Content Advisory:
This post contains direct quotations from public officials that are dehumanizing and ableist in nature. Reader discretion is advised.

When the Disease is in the Leadership

There are moments when history slaps you so hard across the face that you wonder if you have accidentally stumbled into satire. That was my reaction the day Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—conspiracy theorist, anti-vaccine crusader, and enemy of evidence-based public health—was appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services. It seemed less like a presidential decision. It resembled a cruel joke at the expense of every marginalized, disabled, or medically vulnerable American. But it was not a joke. It was a grim warning. The very people who are supposed to safeguard our health would instead weaponize ignorance. They would fan the flames of ableism. Entire communities would be erased under the polished banner of “concern.”

Secretary Kennedy has made it abundantly clear that he does not value all Americans equally since stepping into office. Nowhere is this more grotesquely apparent than in his recent comments about autistic children. These comments are so breathtakingly dehumanizing that they deserve not only condemnation but obliteration. This is personal. This is political. This is survival. And it is long past time we said so without restraint.

You Said What, Mr. Secretary?

Let us talk about the quote—the one that made my blood boil and my heart ache simultaneously. Speaking at a press conference, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said of autistic children:

“These are kids who will 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.”

Let that marinate.

What kind of HHS Secretary stands at a podium? They are tasked with safeguarding the health and dignity of all Americans. Yet, they choose to publicly erase the futures, creativity, and humanity of an entire population. What kind of man views children through a lens of cost-benefit analysis? He labels them as losses because they do not fit his mythologized definition of “normal.” I will tell you: the kind of man who should never have been appointed in the first place.

I do not know what disturbs me more. Is it the breathtaking ignorance? Is it the callous disregard for facts? Or is it the way he said it so matter-of-factly? It was as though it were an unfortunate truth we should all just accept. I have known autistic children who grow up to be poets. Taxpayers. Lovers. Artists. Scientists. Friends. Humans. Many autistic people do date. Do write poetry. Do make meaning of their world in ways RFK Jr. clearly cannot fathom.

This is not just misinformation. It is dehumanization.

This is not about semantics. It is about power. The most powerful public health official in the nation should not speak as though autistic people are burdens. They are beings. Such rhetoric justifies exclusion. It leads to cuts to services, denial of education, and worst of all—erasure.

And make no mistake, that erasure is deliberate. It is rhetorical violence packaged in a polished press statement.

What Secretary Kennedy did in that moment was take a wrecking ball to decades of advocacy, inclusion, and hard-won dignity. He did not merely misspeak—he laid bare the worldview that guides him. This worldview measures “value” by toilet use and W-2s. It also frames neurodivergent lives as something to be “done to” rather than lived fully.

You want to know what these kids will do, Mr. Kennedy? They will grow up. They will find their people. They will fight for their space in a world that was never built for them. And they will outlast your legacy—because their humanity is not conditional, and their future is not yours to dictate.

The Long, Ugly History of RFK Jr.’s Autism Crusade

This is not Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first flirtation with dangerous autism rhetoric. Long before his appointment, he spent years perpetuating the thoroughly debunked myth that vaccines cause autism. He founded organizations. He headlined rallies. He flooded the internet with disinformation. He branded himself as a “defender” of injured children while systematically undermining vaccine confidence.

In 2005, he published an article titled Deadly Immunity. The article falsely linked thimerosal-containing vaccines to autism. This claim was discredited repeatedly by peer-reviewed studies, global scientific bodies, and even prominent critics of the pharmaceutical industry. But Kennedy clung to it with a fervor that bordered on religious mania.

He spoke of a “Holocaust” against American children.
He called public health officials “traitors.”
He accused scientists of “child sacrifice.”

He did all this while positioning himself as a martyr silenced by Big Pharma and shadowy conspiracies. It was not just wrong. It was reckless.

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Kennedy continued to peddle the same poison. Multiple large-scale studies found no link between vaccines and autism. Why? Because it was never about science. It was about power. About grievance. About feeding a narrative where he, the brave whistleblower, stood against a monstrous machine.

Fast forward to 2025. The only thing that has changed is that now he holds real power. He holds power over the very people he once fear-mongered into vaccine hesitancy.

Selective Science: The Texas Measles Exception

One of the most galling aspects of Kennedy’s crusade is his selective relationship with science. In early 2025, Kennedy faced mounting pressure after a major measles outbreak in Texas. He made a stunning pivot. He publicly endorsed measles vaccination, but only in the specific context of the outbreak.

Suddenly, the man found himself championing a childhood vaccine. This was ironic as he had built his brand on opposing them. His support was temporary and geographically limited. It was not a shift born of principle. It was political expediency. He needed to avoid a public health catastrophe under his watch. To suit the moment, he bent his own “truths”.

This should have been disqualifying in itself. But in the world of RFK Jr., inconsistency is not a flaw. It is a strategy. He will say whatever protects his image. This happens even if it means sacrificing consistency. He will ignore science or—apparently—the dignity of autistic people along the way.

Early Damage as Secretary: A Worsening Climate

Since taking office, Kennedy has wasted no time putting his toxic fingerprints all over public health messaging. Though major HHS policy overhauls take time, the early signs are ominous.

• Multiple disability advocacy groups have reported a chilling effect on grant applications and programs seeking HHS support for neurodivergent populations.
• Internal morale among career HHS scientists has plummeted. Whistleblower reports suggest censorship of autism-related research. This research does not align with Kennedy’s worldview.
• Early childhood intervention programs, particularly those serving autistic children, have faced unexpected delays in federal funding disbursements. Advocacy organizations have accused the government of sabotage.

It is not merely that RFK Jr. is bad for public relations. It is that his presence alone reshapes what is considered valid, valuable, and worth protecting in American public health.

His Legacy: A Blueprint for Exclusion

The echoes of Kennedy’s rhetoric reach farther than his immediate press statements. They shape budgets. They influence clinical priorities. They seep into hiring decisions and research funding allocations. In a field where visibility is a lifeline for autistic individuals and families, dignity also plays a crucial role. Affirmation is equally vital. Despite this, Kennedy’s leadership sets fire to those bridges.

He is not offering a better path. He is offering a return to the dark ages of exclusion, shame, and institutionalization.

Echoes of a Darker Past

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would probably recoil if someone called him a eugenicist. He would puff up his chest. He would wave his family name like a shield. He would proclaim that he is fighting for the health and safety of children. But history has a sharper memory than he gives it credit for.

Strip away the polished press releases. Remove the sentimental nods to family legacies. Discard the pseudoscientific gloss he slathers onto his speeches. What remains is chillingly familiar.

The early 20th century saw a surge in eugenics-based thinking across the United States. Scientists, doctors, and politicians alike endorsed the idea that some lives were simply worth more than others. “Defective” children, particularly those labeled with intellectual or developmental disabilities, were not seen as individuals to be nurtured. Instead, they were viewed as societal burdens that needed to be minimized.

The language then sounded eerily similar to Kennedy’s today. They spoke of “saving” families from heartbreak. They spoke of “protecting” society from the “cost” of disability. They spoke of “doing this to our children” by allowing “defective” genes or “poor breeding” to persist.

Kennedy’s rhetoric—whether he recognizes it or not—resurrects that same poisoned framework.

We have been down this road before. We know where it leads.

I refuse to be silent. A man charged with the health of all Americans invites us to walk it again.

You Cannot Lead a Nation You Despise

Secretary Kennedy, you have made it abundantly clear through your words. Your actions show that you are unfit to hold the sacred trust of the American people. You have chosen to speak of autistic children not as individuals bursting with potential. Instead, you describe them as broken shells and burdens. They are seen as objects to be pitied and discarded. You have used your office not to uplift science, but to muddy it. Not to defend the vulnerable, but to gaslight them into silence.

This is not a difference of opinion. It is a fundamental breach of duty.
You are not merely unqualified. You are dangerous.
You are not merely wrong. You are complicit.

In any just administration, your resignation would have been demanded by now. In any government that actually valued the ideals carved into our founding documents, this demand would have been clear. I am demanding it here, publicly and without apology: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., resign immediately as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Resign not because the political winds have shifted. Resign not because the optics have turned sour. Resign because every day you remain in office, disabled, autistic, and neurodivergent Americans are forced to live under a shadow. Each day perpetuates this shadow. They live under the shadow of a man who openly questions their right to exist fully and freely.

Your America may only have room for those who move, think, and speak in the ways you deem acceptable.

Ours does not.

Resign. Step aside. Make room for leadership rooted in science, dignity, and love—not fear, ignorance, and cruelty.

And know this: whether you resign or not, the autistic community will survive you.
They have survived far worse than you. They are not the broken ones here.

You are!

Autism Advocacy Organizations

• Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) — https://autisticadvocacy.org/
• Autism Society of America — https://autismsociety.org/
• National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) — https://ncil.org/
• CommunicationFIRST — https://communicationfirst.org/
• The Arc of the United States — https://thearc.org/
• Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network — https://awnnetwork.org/