10
Loading video...
By Mandy Taheri and Gabe Whisnant
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told reporters Wednesday morning that the rise in recorded autism rates is partially driven by environmental factors, not genetics.
The appearance follows his recent pledge to identify the root cause of the developmental disability by September.
Why It Matters
Kennedy gave a news conference on Wednesday following the release of a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network survey, which found that autism prevalence in the U.S. has increased from 1 in 36 children to 1 in 31.
Read More on Politics
The HHS has described the climbing rate as a critical public health crisis that is being investigated. Kennedy has repeatedly said there is an autism "epidemic" in the U.S. and that it is "running rampant."
Many medical experts and autism advocacy groups reject this idea and have suggested that greater awareness in addition to increased testing and screening by health care professionals has led to higher numbers.
...
What To Know
On Wednesday, Kennedy told reporters that "the relentless increase" in autism is not a result of heightened diagnoses or awareness, stressing that the rates are "real" and that "this epidemic denial has become a feature in the mainstream media." He later noted that a "small sliver" of increased rates is related to increased recognition and diagnosis.
During his speech he called autism a "preventable disease," adding: "We know it's environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics. They can provide a vulnerability, but you need an environmental toxin."
But Dr. Alex Kolevzon, clinical director of Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, told Newsweek otherwise, saying in an email on Wednesday: "The only established cause of autism is genetics. While environmental risk may play a role, no environmental risk factors have been identified as causal."
Kennedy also said during his speech: "And clearly there are industries, this is coming from an environmental toxin. And somebody made a profit by putting that environmental toxin into our air, our water or our medicines, our food, and it's to their benefit to normalize it." He has previously said that vaccines were linked to autism, a theory that has been widely debunked.
The new ADDM survey was conducted across 16 U.S. sites in 2022 and surveyed 8-year-old children born in 2014. The latest autism prevalence is 4.8 times higher than in the first ADDM survey released 22 years ago, when it was 1 in 150 children.
Kolevzon also told Newsweek that "we are not seeing an epidemic of autism." He added that "The CDC has undertaken a critical effort to monitor rates of autism diagnosis but it's important to understand that the methods used to identify cases do not include an observation of the child which is the minimal standard. Indeed, more than 1/3 of cases identified as having autism according to the ADDM did not have an autism assessment according to their report."
What People Are Saying
Kennedy, in an April 15 press release: "The autism epidemic has now reached a scale unprecedented in human history because it affects the young. The risks and costs of this crisis are a thousand times more threatening to our country than COVID-19. Autism is preventable and it is unforgivable that we have not yet identified the underlying causes. We should have had these answers 20 years ago."
A spokesperson for Autism Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) told Newsweek earlier this month that "there is no autism epidemic," adding: "We have come a long way in our understanding of autism, and better understanding has led to higher rates of diagnosis. This is nothing to panic about, and it certainly isn't proof of an environmental cause of autism."
Dr. Doreen Samelson, chief clinical officer at Catalight, in a Wednesday statement: "Although today's CDC report provides an essential snapshot of autism rates, this is a complex issue. The autism spectrum is very diverse, making an accurate diagnosis complex. Among the tens of thousands of children my organization has cared for over the past decade plus, many came to us with an incorrect diagnosis of autism, while others had not received an autism diagnosis despite showing clear signs."
Autism Society, in a statement this month: "The rise in prevalence—from 1 in 36 in 2020 to 1 in 31 in 2022—may reflect several factors including greater awareness, improved screening and diagnostics—especially in communities that were previously underrepresented through advocacy efforts to better support the Autism community. Increased awareness of Autism plays a pivotal role in educating individuals, parents, educators and healthcare providers to better identify Autistic traits and characteristics."
What Happens Next?
Kennedy has vowed to work with President Donald Trump to reduce the prevalence of autism, saying during a Cabinet meeting last week that the HHS will know the cause of what he refers to as an "epidemic" by September.
Update 4/16/25, 4:55 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Kolevzon.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines