Autism Study Spreads RFK Jr. Misinformation Under Academic Cover

10 Jun, 2025

On June 8, The Blade published a piece about a University of Toledo researcher studying a potential link between pesticides and autism. It features prairie voles, pyrethroids, RFK Jr., and just enough scientific framing to sound neutral.

It isn’t.

I hate to link to it — I don’t want to give it oxygen — but transparency matters. So here it is, published in The Blade on June 8: a profile of an autism researcher connecting pesticide exposure to developmental “deficits,” framed with no input from autistic people and no critique of the narrative being pushed.

When I first read the article, I felt what many autistic readers likely will: frustration, then recognition. The framing is familiar. The omissions are predictable. But predictable doesn’t mean acceptable — and silence doesn’t mean consent. This response exists for the people who are still listening.

This is not just an article about “possible contributors.” It’s a return to a long-discredited storyline: that autism is a chemical mistake, a man-made disaster, a tragedy we might have avoided. It’s a polished version of the same story RFK Jr. has been selling for years — only now it comes with a grant and institutional backing.

Let’s be very clear about what’s happening here.

Autism Is Not a Warning Sign

The article frames autism as something to fear — something that might be caused by flea collars or mosquito trucks or shampoo ingredients. It quotes the researcher as saying:

“We are all being exposed to it at some level. Pregnant women who are exposed are at greater risk for their unborn child to be diagnosed with autism later.”

That sentence isn’t just misleading. It’s dangerous.

This is how stigma gets dressed up as science:

• Talk about “risk,” not people.
• Talk about “deficits,” not differences.
• Call the research “environmental,” not ideological.

But beneath all the vocabulary is a single message: autism is harm. Autism is something we do to our children. Autism is a crisis to prevent.

This is the logic of eugenics with a modern polish. And it’s being normalized.

No Autistic Voices. No Ethics. No Accountability.

Not once does the article quote an autistic person. Not once does it mention disability rights, neurodiversity, or the well-documented history of ableist science.

It positions autism as pathology and parental misfortune. Then it links that framing to a $3 million research grant — and a quote from RFK Jr. about how “we have to recognize that we are doing this to our children.”

What this article doesn’t say is:

• That autistic people are not passive outcomes — we are people, and we are watching.
• That causation rhetoric has been used for decades to justify exclusion, abuse, and silencing.
• That reducing autism to a risk factor creates the moral justification for prevention — and with it, elimination.

When Scientists Echo RFK Jr., They Normalize Him

This article pretends there’s a clean line between Burkett’s vole study and RFK Jr.’s politics. There isn’t. The quote placement alone makes the connection. And the logic of both stories is the same:

• Autism is rising.
• Autism is a problem.
• Autism must be explained, and if possible, stopped.

Whether that story comes from a conspiracy theorist or a university lab doesn’t change the outcome. It’s still a narrative of harm. It still dehumanizes. It still invites fear.

Stop Calling This Research Neutral

You cannot be neutral about the implications of autism causation research. You cannot study “what causes us” while denying us a say in how the research is framed, funded, or publicized.

This is not scientific curiosity. It is narrative violence. It says we are not the goal — just the collateral. And that makes the science unsafe, no matter how carefully controlled your vole study is.

There Is No Apolitical Autism Research

To anyone reading this — clinician, journalist, policymaker — who still thinks causation studies are “just science,” understand this:

Every story that frames autism as a problem to solve is a story that fuels elimination. Every press piece that links autism to toxins without input from autistic people is doing RFK Jr.’s work for him. Every dollar poured into causation is a dollar not spent on support, access, or inclusion.

And every time we let this slide, it slides further.

If you're looking for answers, look at us. If you're looking for causes, look at your framing.

Because what this article doesn't say…
autistic people already know.
And we're not going anywhere.