Recent comments from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Donald Trump regarding the relationship of certain medications and autism have caused a kerfuffle in the headlines, with government figures coming to Kennedy’s defense and opposition groups attacking the leaders for their supposed scientific inaccuracy. I’ve read and heard a lot about what nonautistic Republicans and Democrats think of the research, but I’ve seen exactly zero articles concerned with what autists themselves think about these developments.
As an autist myself, I abhor the fact that my reality is being twisted for the sake of cheap political points. I do not need to be “cured.” And, even if I wanted to be cured, it would be for the sake of my own life and interests — not because I want to be more productive or useful for the Kennedys and Trumps of the world.
More fundamentally, what many of us want is a cure for the symptoms, not the underlying condition itself. Being autistic is core to who I am; being bullied and overstimulated is not. The government should be looking for ways to improve quality of life for autistic people without claiming to have a cure-all that will convert us into “normal,” de-individualized workers.
I don’t really care about the specifics of the medicines Kennedy is claiming to cause autism and their supposed effects. What I do care about is the fact that not a single member of the government or the opposition groups, all of whom are profiting off of the politicization of autists’ issues, seems to have asked an autistic person what they want. What we want is to be treated with dignity. What we don’t want is to be used as a political football so that the administration or opposition can score a couple of points.
Many of us, after years of being consistently bullied and abused by our neurotypical (i.e. nonautistic) peers, have learned to rely on each other. Neurotypical people see us as a problem to be solved; we see ourselves as living, breathing people to treat with compassion. We are unique; we are individual and collective; we are happy and sad and upset and content, sometimes all at once. We are deserving of love and empathy.
I myself am capable of living a relatively typical life, with some assistance from my parents and friends. I am a successful student at Swarthmore College (a top institution), an elected member of our student government, and a present applicant for graduate school. I hope someday to be one of America’s first autistic congresspeople. However, even if I were not so capable, would my life be worth less? The answer is no.
I’m sure some people are interested in a cure for compassionate reasons. Unfortunately, I suspect that society’s broader reasons for wanting to “cure” autism are not quite as altruistic as some would have us believe. Autistic people are highly diverse and individual, meaning that we have our own tastes and interests that are often distinct from those of neurotypical individuals. We often have strong senses of justice and integrity, and easily become upset with injustice. In a world where figures like Kennedy and Trump are seeking to force conformity and silence dissent, autistic people present a fundamental conundrum.
When Kennedy says that there is an “autism epidemic” and that we all need to be “cured,” what I hear is that we are a problem in his eyes that needs to be solved, not real people who deserve love and respect. The harmful rhetoric being used by Kennedy and Trump — as well as the media coverage of their comments — is based on a point of view that not only considers autistic people incapable of representing themselves, but also ignores the contributions and value that so many people on the spectrum provide for our society.
For those of you who are autistic, know that being autistic is okay. You have just as much worth and value as anyone else.
