The Strangeness of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s HHS Determining the Cause of Much Increased Autism Prevalence

[PAF]

Ron Paul Institute
Apr 18, 2025


During the coronavirus scare, bureaucrats in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) relentlessly claimed “the science” demanded that people stay isolated at home as much as possible, wear masks, keep at least six feet away from everyone else, refrain from obtaining early treatment, take shot after shot of experimental coronavirus “vaccines,” et cetera. Media and politicians largely echoed these sketchy demands.

Admirably, some people tried to educate Americans about how much of this United States government supported coronavirus propaganda was wrong. Among the most prominent of these critics was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Now Kennedy is the new leader of HHS. Last week he told President Donald Trump at a Cabinet meeting that “a massive testing and research effort” would be undertaken to ensure that “by September we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.”

There is reason for optimism that this investigation into the cause of autism will contribute to accomplishing in some part the goal of Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) that Kennedy references from time to time. After all, Kennedy’s reputation as a critical outsider has led to expectation he will reject the businesses as usual, special interests driven approach at HHS.

Yet, it is important to keep in mind that what we are seeing here also appears to be another example of a centralized government project to decree “the science.”

Over the long term, should that sort of approach be trusted to yield good results? Kennedy won’t be leading HHS forever. Future HHS leaders will have their own projects to fund and staff, likely informed by a very different orientation than Kennedy’s. For proponents of health and liberty, one step forward and two steps back may be the story of HHS a few years down the road — if Kennedy himself can manage in his tenure to improve the gargantuan department.

By all means, wish Kennedy success in disseminating information that will reduce the incidence of autism in America, with the caveat that liberty also be respected. But, at the same time, recognize that many of the problems related to health in America, as with coronavirus, have been significantly contributed to by establishing centralized government power over medicine. For the long term, Americans’ greatest gain for health would likely come from removing government involvement in health matters. Fail to do this and the special interests with much to gain and the power seekers will again take hold of the levers of power, with actually promoting health while respecting liberty shunted far from the first priority.

The Strangeness of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s HHS Determining the Cause of Much Increased Autism Prevalence - The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity

During the coronavirus scare, bureaucrats in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) relentlessly claimed “the science” demanded that people stay isolated at home as much as possible, wear masks, keep at least six feet away from everyone else, refrain from obtaining early treatment...

ronpaulinstitute.org

 

[FineSpeech]

Time for the libertarian movement to ditch this schizophrenic grifter piggybacking off of his political dynasty.

 

[PAF]

Time for the libertarian movement to ditch this schizophrenic grifter piggybacking off of his political dynasty.

I don't vote, but I supported what he was speaking about concerning captured agencies, vaccines, liability, etc. Once he signed up with Team Trump I dropped him like a bad habit.

Now people have hopium [ @Anti Federalist even spoke about and supported "unity" ], and there are no more calls to get government completely out of healthcare. They are happy with a few little bones here and there, not realizing that the next administration will only come back even harder.

Just like there are no more calls to end the TSA, DHS, CIA, etc. In fact, those agencies are rapidly exploding and with expanded power.

Not that voting will ever solve anything [it won't], that's what happens when you run a D on an R ticket = no principles whatsoever, and the Overton Window gets moved further left. The Technocrats are cashing in at the tremendous expense of us and loss of liberty, but nobody give a flying hoot about that. It's that magical letter "R".

 

[Voluntarist]

“a massive testing and research effort” would be undertaken to ensure that “by September we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.”
...
By all means, wish Kennedy success in disseminating information that will reduce the incidence of autism in America,

There's no autism epidemic. That's to say there's been no increase in the incidence of autism, but rather an increase in the diagnosis of autism.

When I was a kid in the 1950's and 1960's, autism was a singular condition - you either had it or you didn't; and it was quite debilitating if you had it (like a "Rain Man" level of debilitation). In 1994, the DSM-IV was updated to officially re-categorize autism as having five categories. In 2013, DMS-5 further refined the definition by consolidating these subcategories into Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I've had psychologists be so flippant about autism that they say everyone is on the spectrum in some form or another.

Also, when I was growing up, almost no kid was seeing mental health professionals for treatment. By 1994, that had all changed and it was almost strange if your kid wasn't seeing a mental health professional and being put on Ritalin to treat whatever mental/emotional ailment they were diagnosed with (because if a kid went to a therapist, they'd be diagnosed with something). Kids who were merely shy, introverted or socially awkward were being diagnosed as"being on the spectrum". Cripes, Elon Musk was diagnosed as having Asperger's - he's not autistic, he's just an ass. Everyone just seems to want to be able to place the blame for their kids' behaviors on some mental health condition.

 

[Working Poor]

IMO vaccines are a eugenics programmed designed to take out certain bloodlines that have high intelligence and creativity traits.
Every other family in most neighborhoods have at least one family member who is autistic if you don't call that an epidemic I don't know what is. WAKE UP....

 

[Firestarter]

In 1994, the DSM-IV was updated to officially re-categorize autism as having five categories. In 2013, DMS-5 further refined the definition by consolidating these subcategories into Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I've had psychologists be so flippant about autism that they say everyone is on the spectrum in some form or another.

DSM-IV has:

contributed to the creation of diagnostic fads that resulted in the massive over-diagnosis of autistic disorders in children and adults.
Careful field testing suggested the new definition would just triple the rate. Instead it quickly multiplied almost 100 fold. More clinicians began labeling both normal diversity and a variety of other psychological problems as autistic.

.
In 2013, today’s DSM-5 was released that according to Frances:

The DSM-5 loosened the diagnosis of autism even more by introducing the concept of autistic spectrum, thus further obscuring the boundary between mental disorder and normal diversity.

.
Laurent Mottron added that the DSM-V, is full of:

vague and trivial definitions and ambiguous language that ensures more people fall into various, abnormal categories.
It associates autism, which now exists on a spectrum, with a reduction of social interest, which can result from an indefinite number of psychological and societal issues.

.

Isn’t it odd that for ALL problems, the proposed solution involves government surveillance?!?

Health secretary RFK Jr’s and NIH director Jay Bhattacharya are setting up a database with personal medical information to track so-called “autistic people”.

Post in thread 'Psychiatry for population control'

Apr 24, 2025

With insane psychiatrists getting trained to diagnose behaviour as “mental disorders” it is obvious that the (main) reason for the rapid rise in “autism rates” all over the developed world – is an explosion of misdiagnoses (my wild guess is that this won’t be evaluated in RFK Jr’s autism cover-up investigation…).

In 1962, the first DSM manual for sentencing lower classes to mental disorders as an efficient way of eugenics was published. It contained about 60 mental disorders; the current DSM edition has more than 300!!!
Who could have guessed that this caused the number of...

• Firestarter

 

[Invisible Man]

There's no autism epidemic. That's to say there's been no increase in the incidence of autism, but rather an increase in the diagnosis of autism.

When I was a kid in the 1950's and 1960's, autism was a singular condition - you either had it or you didn't; and it was quite debilitating if you had it (like a "Rain Man" level of debilitation). In 1994, the DSM-IV was updated to officially re-categorize autism as having five categories. In 2013, DMS-5 further refined the definition by consolidating these subcategories into Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I've had psychologists be so flippant about autism that they say everyone is on the spectrum in some form or another.

Also, when I was growing up, almost no kid was seeing mental health professionals for treatment. By 1994, that had all changed and it was almost strange if your kid wasn't seeing a mental health professional and being put on Ritalin to treat whatever mental/emotional ailment they were diagnosed with (because if a kid went to a therapist, they'd be diagnosed with something). Kids who were merely shy, introverted or socially awkward were being diagnosed as"being on the spectrum". Cripes, Elon Musk was diagnosed as having Asperger's - he's not autistic, he's just an ass. Everyone just seems to want to be able to place the blame for their kids' behaviors on some mental health condition.

You're definitely right about your point that diagnosis of autism has skyrocketed due to broadening the definition and incentivizing the diagnosis.

But that in itself doesn't actually support the conclusion that autism, as previously defined in a more restricted way, hasn't increased. I'm not saying it has. But if there is data out there that addresses this question, comparing apples with apples over time (i.e. incidence rate of autism under the older stricter definition from decade to decade, with corrective factors for increasing rates of diagnosis) I would like to see it.