Autism Rates Rising
A sharp rise in autism rates has reignited concern over national health surveillance, with presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calling the new CDC data “catastrophic” and demanding urgent reforms to reverse what he calls a worsening public health crisis.
The CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network found that 1 in 31 U.S. children born in 2014 — and nearly 1 in 20 boys — were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by age 8. In California, the figure rose to 1 in 12.5 boys. The data, published this week in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, reflects a 480% increase in ASD prevalence since 1992.
CDC Reporting Two Years Late
Kennedy condemned the CDC’s two-year reporting delay and said the agency is failing to warn the public. He promised that under his proposed Administration for a Healthy America, the U.S. would begin real-time monitoring of the epidemic.
“The CDC’s own data prove this epidemic is real, and it’s worsening,” Kennedy said. He rejected claims that rising autism rates are solely due to changes in diagnostic criteria or better awareness.
To support his position, Kennedy pointed to earlier research. In the 1980s, the National Collaborative Perinatal Project (NCPP) found ASD prevalence to be 4 in 10,000. A Wisconsin study from 1989 reported 3 in 10,000. In North Dakota in 1992, the figure was 1 in 10,000. Kennedy said such a sharp rise cannot be explained away by improved recognition.
“Most of these children are not mildly affected,” he said. “Many are non-verbal and non-toilet trained. They will never hold jobs or live independently.”
They Knew in 2009
In 2009, a UC Davis MIND Institute study also challenged the diagnostic inflation theory. “The epidemic is real,” it concluded.
Kennedy accused the CDC and NIH of refusing to investigate environmental causes of autism because genetic research attracts more pharmaceutical industry funding. “We must stop denying this epidemic and start investigating what’s causing it,” he said.
He cited an economic analysis projecting the annual cost of autism in the U.S. will reach $1 trillion by 2035. “This is the most catastrophic public health crisis in American history,” he said.
NJ Autism Study
Dr. Walter Zahorodny, director of the New Jersey Autism Study and a long-time researcher with the ADDM Network, supports the accuracy of the CDC’s findings. He said the surveillance process is methodical and has shown a consistent upward trend since 2000.
Kennedy said he would prioritize investigating environmental exposures, including neurotoxins, as a root cause of the crisis. He called on health agencies, media, and policymakers to “acknowledge reality” and stop pretending the surge in autism is benign.
With autism now affecting 1 in 31 American children and costing billions, Kennedy says the time for “epidemic denial” is over — and action must begin with honest data and environmental accountability.
