A hotel convention center in Bloomington was filled on Friday with people affected by autism who have held jobs, written poetry and played sports — defying the negative characterizations of U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Attendees at the Autism Society of Minnesota’s annual conference said they were upset by Kennedy’s comments, which they said underestimated the capabilities of some people with autism and marginalized others.
“Autistic children are listening to what you’re saying,” said an upset Maren Christenson Hofer, a Minneapolis parent of a 13-year-old seventh-grader with autism.
Kennedy made his comments Wednesday when he ordered the National Institutes of Health to investigate potential environmental origins for autism and its prevalence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier in the week had estimated that one in 31 children aged 8 years had autism spectrum disorder and that it was three times more common among boys than girls. In 2000, the comparable prevalence rate was one in 150, although there is debate over how much of the increase may simply be due to more and better screening.
“They’ll never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted,” the nation’s top health official said of children with autism.
Even if the secretary was trying to inspire sympathy and compassion, his words perpetuated stereotypes that people with autism have fought for years, said Zephyr James, marketing director for the state autism society.
James was diagnosed as an adult with autism, and she said she writes poetry. She doesn’t play baseball because she doesn’t really like the sport, but she tried T-ball as a child. The 34-year-old is more into swimming, rock climbing and circus stunts. But whether someone with autism can do any of these things isn’t the point, she said.
“It really implies that if you can’t do some of the things he mentioned … I guess you’re not a worthwhile person,” she said.
