Posted on 04/16/2025 3:13:24 PM PDT by ransomnote
ransomnote: The transcript below contains RFK Jr's remarks made in the first 12 minutes of the recording. Full video is 30 minutes in length.
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. : I'm going to go over some of the key numbers from the report.
Overall, the autism is increasing in prevalence at an alarming rate. The study tests 8-year-olds who were born in 2014. And by the way, these studies are two years later than they should be. And one of the things that we're going to do as we move this function to the Administration For A Healthy America to the chronic disease -- the new chronic disease division, is we are going to have updated real-time data so that people can look at this, Americans can understand what is happening with chronic disease in this country in real-time. (ransomnote: Otherwise) I'd have to wait two years to react. We don't wait two years to react to a measles epidemic and we should not-- or any kind of infectious disease. We shouldn't have to do that for diabetes or autism.
The A.S.D. Prevalence rate in 8-year-olds is now one in 31. Shocking. There's an extreme risk for boys, overall the risk for boys of getting an autism diagnosis in this country is now one in 20. And as high in California, which has the best data collection, so it probably also reflects the national trend, one in 12.5 boys. This is part of an unrelenting, upward trend. The prevalence two years ago was one in 36. Since the first ADDM report in 1990 -- which was 1992 births, autism has increased by a factor of 4.8, that's 480%, I believe.
The first ADDM survey was 22 years ago, when prevalence was one in 150 children. In all the core states, the trend is consistently upward, and most cases now are severe. So about 25% of the kids who are diagnosed with autism are nonverbal, non-toilet trained and have other stereotypical features. Head banging, tactile and light sensitivities, stimming and toe-walking, etc.
One of the things that I think that we need to move away from today is this ideology that this ideology that the autism diagnosis, that the autism prevalence increase, the relentless increases are simply artifacts of better diagnosis, better recognition or changing diagnostic criteria. If you look at table three of the ADDM report, it's clear that the rates are real. That they are increasing in the last 10 years, year by which is the -- beginning with the first one, year by year there is a steady, relentless increase.
I want to -- because this 'epidemic denial' has become a feature in the mainstream media, and it's based on an industry cannard, obviously there are people who don't want us to look at environmental exposures. And so I want to just read you some of the -- a little excerpt from some of the older studies.
The baseline for autism in this country was established with the largest study in history. A study of all 900,000 children in the state of Wisconsin. Children under the age of 12. They found .7 children had autism in every 10,000. That's less than 1 in 10,000. Today we're at one in 31. That study also confirmed the four-to-one male-to-female ratio. There were at that time just over 60 children in Wisconsin with autism. And today it's around 20,000.
In 1987, there was another exhaustive study, a peer-reviewed study in North Dakota set out to count every child in the state with a pervasive developmental disorder, including autism. That study meticulously combed through every record, every diagnosis, and even conducted in-person assessments of the entire population of 180,000 children under 18. The autism rate, they found, was 3.3 per 10,000. So that's in line with the one in 10,000 that was found in Wisconsin 17 years earlier. For context, today -- the last number of one in 36 is 83 times higher.
In 1987, out of every one million kids, 330 were diagnosed with autism. Today there are 27,777 for every million. If you accept the epidemic deniers' narrative, you have to believe that researchers in North Dakota missed 98.8% of the children with autism. Thousands of profoundly disabled children were somehow invisible to doctors, teachers, parents and even their own study. The same researchers who followed the original cohort for 12 years double checked their number, they went back in 2000 and found that they had missed exactly one child.
Doctors and therapists in the past were not stupid, they weren't missing all these cases. The epidemic is real. Between 1959 and 1965, researchers from 14 hospitals associated with major universities undertook a national collaborative perinatal project, tracking 30,000 children from birth to age 8. This was no half-baked survey-based analysis. The study conducted nine separate screenings, covering neurology, psychology, speech, language, hearing and visual function. Every developmental quirk, anomaly and disorder was logged with painstaking detail.
Autism condition characterized by profound impairments in social communication, behavior would have stood out like a neon sign. There were 14 cases, that's 4.7 per 10,000. So we know what the historic numbers are. And we know what the numbers are today. And it's time for everybody to stop attributing this to this ideology of 'epidemic denial'.
In 2009, the California state legislature charged the Mind Institute at U.C. Davis with -- because this myth was already becoming pervasive, the myth of 'epidemic denial', was already becoming pervasive in the mainstream media, the California legislature directed the Mind Institute at U.C.-Davis to answer the question, and Irva Hertz-Picciotto is a highly esteemed, revered scientist, neurology and epidemiologist, came back with a definitive answer, the epidemic is real. Only a very, very small portion of it can be changed -- can be charged to better recognition or better diagnostic criteria.
I want to say a couple of other things. There are many, many other studies that affirm this.
ransomnote: The X.com content ends here. The remaining remarks RFK Jr. made is present in other recordings of the press conference.
RFK Jr: And instead of listening to this cannard of 'epidemic denial', all you have to do is start reading a little science. Because the answer is very clear. And this is catastrophic for our country.
There's a recent study by Blaxill et. al., and a team of other researchers that said that the cost of treating autism in this country by 2035, so within 10 years, will be $1 trillion a year. This is added to already astronomical healthcare costs. And then there is an individual injury, these are kids that -- this is a preventable disease. We know it's environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics. It's an epidemic. It can provide a vulnerability, but you need an environmental toxin.
And Irva Hertz-Picciotto pointed out that because of this mythology, that the amount of money and resources put into studying genetic causes, which is a dead end, has been historically 10 to 20 times the amount spent by N.I.H. and other agencies, the study -- to study environmental factors, to study exposures, to study external factors and this is where we're going to find the answer. This is an individual tragedy as well. Autism destroys families. More importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children.
These are children who should not be suffering like this. These are kids who, many of them were fully functional and regressed because of some environmental exposure into autism when they're 2 years old. And these are kids who will never pay taxes, they'll never hold a job, they'll never play baseball, they'll never write a poem. They'll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted. And we have to recognize we are doing this to our children. And we need to put an end to it. And I think I'm going to have Walter Zahorodny, who is the most senior researcher for this project, and has been doing this for many years, to come up and say a little. Applause
END OF TRANSCRIPT AT THE 13:05 minute mark in the video which continues for another 17 minutes.
ransomnote: Use the link below to continue watching the video when researcher Walter Zahorodny begins his presentation.
ransomnote: The study (published today on the CDC website) upon which RFK Jr. based his report is linked below
Prevalence and Early Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 4 and 8 Years — ADDM network, 16 Sites, United States, 2022
CDC ^ | April 17, 2025 | Kelly A. Shaw, PhD ; Susan Williams; Mary E. Patrick, MPH ; Miguel Valencia-PradoPosted on 4/16/2025, 4:20:16 PM by ransomnote
Don’t fret. They have a new vaccine to stop this problem.
There are a lot of MFers who know the causes behind this epidemic. They all should be burned at the stake. Start with the Senators and congressmen on big pharma’s payroll.
BUMP!
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The autism explosion began in the late 80s. What new and ubiquitous chemical or process introduced during that period served as the catalyst? That’s the main point I took from the presser. Like Kennedy said, AI could be crucial in process of identifying the problem.
With my 13 grandchildren, I’m guaranteed to have multiple autistic great grandchildren if RFK, Jr. isn’t successful.
I am reflecting on my high school special Ed class. There were about 1600 students and the sped class was no more than 50 total. These included many with physical issues and the affects of polio.
The one child I know that is autistic has a mom who was/is a pot smoker who uses a vape. Coincidence?
1 in 12.5 children has autism. Autism is 4 times higher in boys.
Deodorant? Body wash? Sports drinks?
I’ve read that Autism is more difficult to diagnose in girl’s, so that might be part of it.
The RFK press conference video from another source was posted earlier on FR. I watched that video and then I read CNN’s version of the RFK press conference.
CNN criticized almost everything RFK said. No surprise there as one of the ‘unspoken’ causes of autism is likely vaccination and RFK did not want to go there. But as we all know media gets megabucks from the big pharma advertising.
Below is the CNN version—
In first news conference as HHS secretary, Kennedy says autism is an epidemic in the US
By Deidre McPhillips, CNN
Updated: 2:56 PM EDT, Wed April 16, 2025
Source: CNN
In his first news conference as secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Wednesday that rising rates of autism prevalence in the US reflect a “preventable” crisis-level epidemic that has been caused by an environmental toxin.
Advocates for people with autism have criticized this position as harmful and misleading. Existing research has explained autism as a multifactorial condition that is influenced heavily by genetics.
Experts have largely attributed the steady rise in autism prevalence to better understanding of and screening for the condition, including a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report this week that indicated a rising rate of autism along with “increased access to identification among previously underserved groups.”
But Kennedy amped up his message on Wednesday, saying that people who accept this explanation are “epidemic deniers” who are playing into an “industry canard.”
“One of the things that I think that we need to move away from today is this ideology that the autism prevalence increases – the relentless increases – are simply artifacts of better diagnoses, better recognition or changing diagnostic criteria,” he said.
He also called for “real-time data” on autism prevalence, likening autism to a measles epidemic.
“We don’t wait two years to react to a measles epidemic … or any kind of infectious disease. We shouldn’t have to do that for diabetes or autism,” he said.
Dr. Walter Zahorodny, an associate professor at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and a co-author of the new CDC report, joined Kennedy at Wednesday’s news conference and echoed his claim that the rise in autism prevalence is an “urgent public health crisis” that could not solely be attributed to better awareness.
“I would urge everyone to consider the likelihood that autism – whether we call it an epidemic, a tsunami or a surge of autism – is a real thing that we don’t understand, and it must be triggered or caused by environmental or risk factors,” he said. “We need to address this question seriously because, in my opinion, for the last 20 years, we’ve collected data but not made real progress in understanding what causes autism or how to effectively prevent it or treat it effectively.”
Kennedy said that autism research will fall under the new Administration for Healthy America, in a new chronic disease division. He said that he plans to announce a “series of new studies to identify precisely what the environmental toxins are that are causing it” within a few weeks.
The cause of autism isn’t fully understood, but research has indicated that genetics may play a significant role. But Kennedy said that this line of study is a “dead end,” instead pointing to factors including mold, pesticides, medicines and ultrasounds.
“Genes do not cause epidemics. It can provide a vulnerability. You need an environmental toxin,” Kennedy said.
On Tuesday, the CDC published new data showing that autism rates increased among children in the US. About 1 in every 31 children was diagnosed with autism by age 8 in 2022, up from 1 in 36 in 2020.
Improvements in early identification of autism “have been apparent,” the authors of the CDC report wrote, and “differences in the prevalence of children identified with [autism spectrum disorder] across communities might be due to differences in availability of services for early detection and evaluation and diagnostic practices.”
The new study is based on surveillance data from 16 areas that participate in the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network. The data is not nationally representative and encompasses a different set of sites than the last report with data from 2020, which captured data from only 11 sites.
Kennedy’s comments on autism have faced sharp criticism from advocates for people with autism, including the Autism Society of America, which said it’s “harmful, misleading, and unrealistic” for HHS to pledge that the cause of autism will be quickly identified and exposures eliminated.
“Claiming that Autism is ‘preventable’ is not science based, and places unnecessary blame on people, parents and families,” Christopher Banks, CEO of the society, said in a statement Tuesday. “Autism is not a chronic disease, nor a childhood disease, it is a lifelong developmental condition; it is not an epidemic, nor should it be compared to the Covid-19 pandemic, and using language like that perpetuates falsehoods, stigma and stereotypes. The prevalence rates tell us that there is progress when it relates to improved screening and diagnostics, AND it emphasizes the need for more robust, comprehensive research and data rooted in credible methodologies.”
“”””The A.S.D. Prevalence rate in 8-year-olds is now one in 31. Shocking. There’s an extreme risk for boys, overall the risk for boys of getting an autism diagnosis in this country is now one in 20. And as high in California, which has the best data collection, so it probably also reflects the national trend, one in 12.5 boys.””””
Nationwide, 1 out of 20 boys, who were born in 2014, had varying degrees of autism when then were 8 years old in 2022.
One of the things RFK is going to look at is whether either or both of the parents had diabetes or were obese when these boys were conceived in 2013/14.
What if that data shows that say, 50% of either or both parents had diabetes or were obese. That would be one possible cause.
The government has massive data on health. Now they need to use the computer technology to sort out that data to good use.
Neither I nor my wife would be considered heavy let alone obese. We did not consume sugary drink not food containing dyes or loaded with additives.
At one point it was considered that it was family related, level of education or intelligence, engineer type. We both have Stem degrees and great grandparent being an engineer. Also siblings have ailments that are common in families with autism. So I would say it is genetic related, at least a tendency towards autism which might be activated by environmental factors.
There’s a legal case which collected data on the impact of vaccines on public health. A chart of vaccination status versus chronic illness showed a low horizontal line until the 80’s (chronic illness flat) at which time the chronic illness correlation began to climb continuously to the present.
Paging Jenny McCarthy.
What is the environmental toxin that is causing this?
“””What is the environmental toxin that is causing this?”””
I believe we all know that RFK wanted to say that childhood vaccinations are the likely source. But if he said that, the media would have had a fit.
Instead, RFK is saying they will look at many factors such as-—
1. Age and health of parents at time of conception.
2. Increase in Ultrasound usage.
3. Toxins in food supply such as pesticides, herbicides, steroids, and antibiotics.
4. Illicit drug and alcohol abuse by parents.
When these studies are done and they find very few correlations with the above factors, then the childhood vaccinations become the most likely cause.
bump
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