CDC and RFK Jr. disagree on why autism rates are climbing among children
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A new CDC report shows 1 in 31 children are diagnosed with autism by age 8, citing better diagnostic practices as the possible reason why there’s an increase in cases.
However, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls that explanation an epidemic of denial.
“I knew nothing about autism,” said Valley mother Olivia Fryer, who remembers feeling afraid when her first child was diagnosed with autism at age 3.
“Largely it was because he had stopped speaking so that was kind of something to us that signified we need to go see somebody,” said Fryer. “In the beginning it was hard. You couldn’t say the word autism without me crying.”
Currently, she’s the executive director of the Autism Society of Greater Phoenix. Her son Enrique is now 14 and thriving. He’s a huge Arizona sports fan.
“He is just exceeding any expectations that we ever had for him,” said Fryer.
There are millions of kids just like Enrique who fall somewhere on the autism spectrum.
A new CDC report released this week found 1 in 31 children in the U.S. have the disorder. The previous estimate was 1 in 36 children. The CDC has been monitoring autism for more than two decades, and there has been an increase in cases every year. In 2000, the autism rate was 1 in 150 children.
“This is a preventable disease. We know it’s an environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics. They can provide a vulnerability, you need an environmental toxin,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
In his first press conference since becoming head of the HHS, RFK Jr. vowed to understand why the autism rate keeps climbing. He rejects the idea that it’s due to more awareness and better diagnostic tools.
“Doctors and therapists in the past were not stupid. They weren’t missing all these cases. The epidemic is real,” said RFK Jr.
“Initially you go down this deep rabbit hole of Googling why did my child get diagnosed with autism and you see all sorts of crazy theories you know you drank too much milk when you were pregnant, it’s attributed to the father, it’s attributed to environmental X, Y, Z.,” said Fryer. “There’s so many things right and I think that actually causes parents to become depressed because they’re so focused on that that I think it distracts them from getting the actual services that they need.”
RFK Jr. is making a bold promise. He says a team of scientists and researchers will determine the root cause of autism by September, but advocacy groups and other health experts say that’s unlikely.
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