Summary

RFK Jr. is using private medical records to create a registry of people with autism in the United States.

The National Institutes of Health is helping to collect private medical records from government and commercial databases, including “prescription records from pharmacies, lab testing, and genomics records from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Service, private insurance claims, and data from smartwatches and fitness trackers.”

Kennedy, a longtime critic of vaccination, has made the study of autism one of HHS’s primary goals. He has called autism “preventable” and claimed “he can find a cure for the condition by September.”

  • enthusiasticamoeba@lemmy.ml
    14·
    8 hours ago

    The RFK Jr episodes also led me to believe that RFK Jr is probably not as neurotypical as he probably wants to think.

    Which is not surprising considering the amount of hatred and seething rage that some unrecognized neurodivergent people (primarily low support needs) have for anyone exhibiting neurodivergent traits.

    After years of social rejection (especially by family) and being denied support, many neurodivergent people learn to mask their traits at all costs. So when they see others openly express their traits or receive accommodations, it can feel deeply triggering, even infuriating. This resentment often fuels a cycle of shame and suppression that repeats across generations in ND families

    Most of the late-diagnosed autistics/ADHDers in my circle have experienced abuse from undiagnosed autistic/ADHD parents. These parents, having been forced to mask their traits due to less obvious support needs, often harshly suppress the same traits in their children to avoid stigma.

    Some people who’ve struggled want to ease the path for others; others believe everyone should struggle as they did. The latter are the ones who go on to try to abuse their kids (and sometimes a whole country) out of being neurodivergent.