The following piece written by Jill Escher appeared in the Free Press on November 15, 2024:

Trump, RFK, and the Autism Dilemma

Kennedy and the president-elect are asking why more kids like mine are disabled by autism. They have the power to find real answers—and it’s not due to vaccines.

Whatever you may think of Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., let’s give them credit for being essentially the only politicians to invoke an alarming and shadowy topic few want to acknowledge: the crisis of America’s rising rates of autism.

And with the news that Kennedy is going to be Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, there will be an opportunity for them to act upon their concern. But the peril is that, given Trump and Kennedy’s history of blaming vaccines, they might continue down this discredited path.

The once-rare diagnosis of autism now consumes the lives of ever-growing numbers of U.S. families—including mine. But autism has become so mired in controversy that wary politicians tend to look away. When comedian Dave Smith recently asked this unfunny question about Trump and Kennedy—“Why are they the only ones who are talking about this?”—his remarks on Instagram were viewed 3.7 million times.

This crisis urgently needs to be addressed, not just because children with autism and their families need research, hope, and help but because all of society is affected by a growing cohort of young adults who will require lifetime care. The numbers are astonishing and irrefutable.

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