RFK Jr. vows to find cause of autism by September — experts have doubts

Alexandra Mae Jones · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 11, 2025 9:32 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pledged that the country's top wellness bureau volition pinpoint the origin of autism by September, an announcement which sparked a question of interest among aesculapian experts and advocates who question the feasibility and absorption of the research.

Kennedy — a longtime vaccine professional who has pushed a discredited mentation that regular puerility shots origin autism — said Thursday that the effort volition impact hundreds of scientists. He shared the plans with U.S. President Donald Trump during a televised furniture meeting. 

Trump suggested that vaccines could beryllium to blasted for autism rates, adjacent though decades of probe person concluded determination is nary nexus betwixt the two. 

"There's got to beryllium thing artificial retired determination that's doing this," Trump told Kennedy, aboriginal saying, "maybe it's a shot. But something's causing it." 

There's technological statement that puerility vaccines don't origin autism. Retreading this crushed raises alarm bells, says Kristyn Roth, spokesperson for the Autism Society of America. 

"There is simply a heavy interest that we are going backward and evaluating debunked theories," Roth told The Associated Press, adding that starring autism organizations person not been consulted astir the planned research. 

Autism is simply a developmental information which presents a assortment of symptoms that tin see delays successful language, learning and differences successful societal oregon affectional skills. Individuals with autism tin besides person a wide scope of enactment needs. Around 2 per cent of Canadian children and younker are autistic, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. 

Decades of research, including studies connected twins, person shown that genetics plays a ample relation successful autism, but that there's nary circumstantial "autism gene." The U.S. National Institutes of Health, which already spends much than $300 cardinal US yearly researching autism, besides lists immoderate imaginable hazard factors specified arsenic prenatal vulnerability to pesticides oregon aerial pollution, utmost prematurity oregon debased commencement weight, definite maternal wellness problems oregon parents conceiving astatine an older age.

It's "an exquisitely analyzable condition," Dr. Melanie Penner, a elder clinician idiosyncratic and developmental pediatrician astatine Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital astatine Toronto, told CBC News. 

"Everything we cognize astir autism suggests that this has a truly complex, multifactorial root that differs from kid to child. So we request to put successful subject that is susceptible of knowing that nuance, of knowing each of that complexity."

Kennedy has offered nary further details connected however his survey volition beryllium conducted, oregon what researchers volition beryllium involved. 

It seems absurd to suggest that a single cause for a information with specified a beardown familial constituent could beryllium recovered successful a substance of months, says Paul Offit, manager of the Vaccine Education Centre astatine the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The crushed Kennedy mightiness spot it arsenic feasible, Offit suspects, is due to the fact that Kennedy presumably believes helium already knows the cause.

"He thinks vaccines origin autism. And nary substance however galore studies are done to amusement that he's wrong, helium doesn't judge them," Offit, who is besides a prof successful pediatrics astatine the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Offit says helium believes Kennedy's extremity end is to marque vaccines "less available, little supportable, and much frightening."

"That's what he's doing, and to deliberation different is to not person paid immoderate attraction to who helium is and what helium has been doing for the past 20 years."

Prior to Kennedy's confirmation arsenic U.S. wellness secretary, waves of wellness professionals urged senators to ballot against the assignment — with 1 missive signed by much than 800 wellness experts highlighting that Kennedy's deficiency of wellness expertise and "unfounded, fringe beliefs could importantly undermine nationalist wellness practices."

Rising complaint of diagnoses

Trump and Kennedy person some expressed concerns astir the rising complaint of autism diagnoses, which Kennedy has called an "epidemic."

But experts accidental diagnoses are up due to the fact that of a broadening explanation of autism, arsenic good arsenic efforts to summation awareness. 

For decades, the diagnosis was fixed lone to kids with terrible problems communicating oregon socializing, and was thought of arsenic precise rare. But astir 30 years ago, the diagnostic criteria was expanded arsenic technological knowing evolved to spot autism arsenic occurring connected a spectrum. Milder autism cases are acold much communal than terrible ones. 

With improved screening and autism services, diagnosis is progressively happening astatine younger ages, too. And much advocacy to combat "a agelong past of nether designation of autism successful girls and women, sex divers people, and successful racialized groups," has led to an summation successful diagnoses successful these groups, Penner said. 

Still, anti-vaccine advocates, including Kennedy, person claimed that vaccines are to blame. The mentation mostly stems from a 1998 paper, successful the aesculapian diary The Lancet, that was aboriginal retracted arsenic fraudulent. 

Anne Borden King, co-founder of Autistics 4 Autistics: Self-advocacy successful Canada, says it's hugely stigmatizing erstwhile discussions about autism absorption connected a "cause" oregon a "cure."

"We don't privation to beryllium prevented, we privation services that are really utile for autistic people," she said. 

"My question arsenic an advocator is, however galore much of these chaotic goose chases bash we person to spell on? When what we truly could beryllium doing is putting each those scientists to work, and each that probe wealth to work, looking astatine probe that really improves the prime of beingness for autistic radical that are present and now."

Kennedy's task is already disconnected to a rocky start. The Department of Health and Human Services has hired David Geier, a antheral who was erstwhile fined by the authorities of Maryland for practising medicine connected a kid without a doctor's licence and has repeatedly claimed a nexus betwixt vaccines and autism, to pb the national probe effort. 

The section did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.