The "Autism Epidemic" Is a Lie: Trump's "Historic" Autism Announcement Is a Declaration of War on Autistic People
Brace Yourselves: Trump's Autism Announcement Is a Weapon of Mass Stigma - Trump's New Autism Scapegoat is Here and Autistic People Will Pay the Price.
It was teased over the weekend by Discount Dictator Donald that we can expect a "historic announcement" related to "autism."
Trump is scheduled to speak later today (Monday, September 22, 2025) at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CST).
An official said the president will announce "historic progress" on his promise to "address America's rising rate of autism."
As an Autistic Person, I have many feelings on this.
Like way too many Autistic People my age, I didn't know about my own Autistic brain for the first part of my life, because my Autism wasn't identified in childhood.
For me, learning the truth (9 years ago at the age of 29) was a life-saving experience.
Since learning this truth about myself, I have had the immense privilege of getting to know many different Autistic People (from all places along the constellation of Autism, a term I am growing to like more than referring to Autism as "a spectrum" because people often confuse the spectrum for a line).
Over the past nine years, I've met many brilliant and wonderful Autistic People from all walks of life - some who speak with their mouths, some who don't, some who work, some who don't, some who live at home with their families (or other support networks), and some who don't.
Most of the people I surround myself with, most of my closest friends, and many of my family members, are Autistic (or NeuroDivergent in other ways).
Some of us need more support than others. We're all in different places within our lives, and we all have unique strengths, weaknesses, and needs.
Some of us are thriving, but, unfortunately, many of us are struggling... but in this current world (where everything is so darned expensive), who isn't?
Many of the Autistic People I know don't live "traditional lives" according to our society's norms.
Many live with family, parents, roommates, or partners who support them (myself included).
Independence is a myth.
Even people who live on their own depend on farmers for their food, and people who work to create the goods they buy.
They are not truly independent unless they live in the woods alone, growing their own food, and physically making all the tools they need for survival. But how many people actually do that - live away from society in true solitude from the world?
While some of us have "moved out" in the past, many of us have found ourselves moving "back home" (or back into group living situations) recently, due to the rising costs of everything needed to survive in the world today.
Many of the Autistic People I know (including myself) struggle greatly with traditional employment in the types of roles society values.
Despite having lots to offer, many of us are underemployed or unemployed because too often the world's systems fail to adapt, preventing us from maximizing our skills and abilities.
We face obstacles (through no fault of our own), and then are too often blamed when we fail to succeed.
Obstacles like:
Stigma and biases against Autistic and other NeuroDivergent People, which can lead us to being underestimated because our skills sometimes can be in very specific, limited areas, or because we have uncommon weaknesses (that are too often used against us, when we're compared to our peers who can quickly and "easily" do things we sometimes cannot).
This stigma (and the resulting misunderstandings) can make the job interview process a nightmare, which many of us struggle to get past, leaving many of us struggling to get work at all (much less work that matches our skills or pays a living wage).
Many of us struggle with "selling ourselves" in interviews and would be better off if our work was allowed to speak for itself; however, we are often dismissed, passed over, or not given a chance (due to our social and communication differences or being judged harshly when we have weaknesses our peers don't, even if we have strengths that are also uncommon).
This can leave us stuck in entry-level jobs, passed up for jobs or promotions, as many workplaces favor "well-rounded" skill sets, failing to appreciate those of us with more narrow, very specific, niche skills.
Having our requests for help denied, ignored, or minimized (by people who don't believe us when we say we need something to be successful) can also hold us back, because it leaves us with unmet needs.
Not having our needs (like sensory, communication, or other support needs) met can make success nearly impossible – if we don't have the tools that we need to be successful (similar to a mechanic without tools to fix a car).
Even the most skilled mechanic can't do an oil change if the shop they work at expects them to change the car's oil with their bare hands and no tools.
Similarly, Autistic People are often expected to do tasks without the proper help, support, and tools needed for us to thrive in our roles (and lives) - and then blamed when we fail to meet the unfair expectations.
Capitalism's Caste System
Our society, based on cut-throat capitalism, has created a caste system (that values people based on their earning potential), fueled by the myth that "people who put in the most effort are the most successful" and "those who fail are not trying as hard as those who thrive" (even though I know, now, this isn't true).
We were taught growing up that "we could be anything we wanted to be, and all we had to do was try and put in the work."
We were also taught that "if we failed, it was our own fault for not trying."
These lies, if people believe them, make it easy to blame those who aren't "succeeding" in the way society pushes us to.
When we believe the lies and see people stuck in poverty, it is easy for us to falsely assume those who "aren't making it" are lazy or not trying hard enough, and therefore deserve to struggle.
Society wants us to believe that those people "could succeed if they wanted to, if they just worked harder," but this idea lacks nuance (and is a lie). This oversimplified and unnuanced way of looking at the world ignores privilege and systemic injustice (and advantages) that some people have.
When I believed this lie (that all my failures were due to not trying hard enough), it led me to frequent burnouts (because I regularly pushed myself so hard I would make myself physically ill).
Leading up to my Autism diagnosis (which saved my life), pushing myself without mercy (being encouraged by my employer to do so) almost killed me (because I became so exhausted from pushing too hard, without results, that my situation began to feel hopeless, and I started to give up on myself and life).
It all became too much, and with no end in sight, I began to break down, longing for an exit to the pain and struggle (which seemed infinite and insurmountable at the time).
As a result of all the shame, blame, and exhaustion, my mental and physical health started falling apart.
When I finally got that office job (the one everyone told me I was supposed to have, because it was "the dream") and I couldn't make it in that environment, I (falsely) internalized that it was because "I was a failure" instead of recognizing that I was facing an inflexible system, that blamed me for every struggle that resulted from having a lack of support (and constant blame) for failing to thrive without having even my most basic needs met.
Being repeatedly blamed (for things outside of my control) broke me down.
I'd always struggled with self-hatred, but in that environment, I began to hate myself so much that I started to think the world (and the people in it) would be better off without me in it (something I'd not felt since I was very young, when the school system had broken me down in a similar way).
I know better now (that the world is better with me in it), but that message (that the world would be better off without Autistic People) is the lie this regime is selling.
Even the language "address America's rising rate of autism" suggests that Autism, and by extension, Autistic People, are something the world would be better off without.
For all the non-autistic people out there, I ask, "How would you feel if a public official said a group you belong to has become 'an epidemic' that this country needs to 'solve"?
What if they said, "We need to solve this epidemic of red-haired people, or blondes, why are there so many people with this characteristic or that one?"
As people (of any NeuroType), we need to know that our existence is wanted in the world, or we may begin to feel like the world is better off without us.
We might start to believe that we shouldn't exist (as I did 9 years ago). Still, the regime is set on devaluing Autistic People, framing us like an epidemic, plaguing society (that shouldn't exist), using dehumanizing rhetoric.
They talk about finding a cause, acting like there are "suddenly more Autistic People on earth," but we've always been here.
There aren't "more Autistic People" all of a sudden; we have more Autistic People BEING IDENTIFIED now (thanks to a few factors - increased awareness, understanding, screening, and a widening of the criteria used to quantify and diagnose Autistic People in the DSM (and other medical manuals used worldwide).
One significant reason for the increase in Autism prevalence is due to our increased awareness and understanding of Autism. However, in addition to the expansion in our understanding of Autism and Autistic People, two main factors have contributed to the specific increase in the CDC's numbers in my lifetime:
Pediatric Screenings at 18 and 24 months
The first major change that has had a significant impact on Autism numbers over the past fifteen years happened in 2007 when the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended ASD screening for every child (even if parents had no concerns) at both 18- and 24-month pediatric visits.
Before that, in 2006, the Autism prevalence rates were estimated to be 1 in 110. In 2008, as this program started rolling out, the data suggested that one in 88 children is Autistic.
A few years later, in 2010, once the screening practice had become more widespread, the estimate was 1 in 68. That number mainly stayed the same for a few years, coming in only one point higher (at 1 in 69) a few years later in 2012.
Broadening Criteria for Autism in The DSM
Another MAJOR change happened in 2013 when the American Psychiatric Association removed Asperger's, PDD-NOS, and Classic Autism as diagnostic categories with the release of the DSM-5, merging all three of these designations under the label of Autism Spectrum Disorder (or, as I prefer, Autism Spectrum Difference). This change meant new people (those with Asperger's and PPD-NOS) would now qualify under the Autism criteria (instead of receiving a separate diagnosis).
They widened the criteria, so more people qualified as Autistic, and the numbers started rising again.
In 2014, we were 1 in 59. In 2016 (when I was diagnosed and started my blog), we were 1 in 54.
A few years later, in 2018, we were 1 in 44, and then, before we knew it, the number was 1 in 36.
Most recently, they've started saying 1 in 31 (3.2% children aged 8 years have been identified as Autistic in the US), according to estimates from CDC's ADDM Network (which doesn't even consider Adult Autistic People).
In my opinion, the CDC needs a better way to gather its data because, as long as Autistic Adults are excluded from these numbers (since we're not always diagnosed as kids), the numbers will always be inaccurate.
What do YOU think the Autism prevalence REALLY IS?
I, personally, suspect the number is even higher (due to adults, women, gender-nonconforming people, and other marginalized Autistics often being missed or excluded from these counts).
The regime is seeking something to blame and a way to "stop an increase" (that I don't personally believe is happening).
They started by trying to blame vaccines (something that's been thoroughly debunked many times). Then they moved on to blaming pregnant women for taking Tylenol (which didn't come into widespread use until 1950) despite there being documented cases of Autism before this date.
Now, we're all stuck speculating, waiting to hear what the regime is planning to blame later today, holding our breaths, prepared for the stigma, gloom, and doom fear-based rhetoric, likely to come with such an announcement.
Will this announcement come with new "treatment recommendations" and false promises of "a cure" (something many Autistic People, myself included, would' take even if one was offered to us)?
Will they try to force us to take whatever nonsense they say is "the answer" to this false epidemic the regime is attempting to manufacture?
What will they do to those of us who refuse to comply?
What will this mean for future generations of Autistic People (and those of us living through this fascist nightmare)?
Regardless of what the regime announces later today, there is one thing I am certain of:
This announcement will be used to demonize Autism and spread fear about Autistic People, and Autistic People of all ages will suffer because of the anti-Autistic propaganda about to be injected into our culture.
I am bracing, ready for the hit that I know is inevitable.
After years of fighting against narratives that paint Autism as a "boogie man" to be feared, a problem to be solved, and something our society would be better off without, we'd finally started to turn public understanding around (while those who feel Autism is always a bad thing have been waiting, dreaming to have their hate of Autism validated).
I fear the people who "hate Autism" (but won't admit they hate Autistic People) are about to be given a weapon that will be wielded against Autistic People (much like when Andrew Wakefield's now-dunked vaccine study came out claiming Autism was a vaccine injury).
Whatever lies the regime is selling will be used by those who hate Autistic People (and those who want people to see Autism as a tragedy) to validate an incoming surge of anti-Autistic hate.
We fought hard to drown out these people, who aren't Autistic but felt they should be leading the conversation about Autism.
I worry there's about to be a significant shift (backwards), and a lot of the ground we've fought so hard to gain may be lost if we don't push back hard against whatever propaganda is shared later today.
We can't let non-autistic people, especially those who hate Autism and Autistic People, go back to being "the authorities" on Autism and the Autistic experience.
I refuse to let this narrative that Autism "is a sickness" or a "problem to be solved" come back to the foreground.
This world can be scary at times, but so many people follow mainstream media news outlets and believe everything told is true. In reality it’s mostly a bias narrative and fear seems to the main reason to control people…
I know that statistics whether it’s politicians or certain scientists can and do distort statistics to align with their own narrative. Mary Trump mentioned in her Good in Us Post in her recent Stubstack that Terror Made Me Cruel made a point referencing the story line within Emily Brontë Wuthing Heights about how terror can make people cruel she shared a chart showing how Americans can overestimate minority groups. I’m aware that it’s the same in the UK, but not as extreme as America.
Those who watch the news tend to not have learned about critical thinking or take into account what the word “minorities” mean! Like you said data is distorted because figures appear to have gone up and tend to exclude adults, women and none gender conformity. It’s also more challenging with data the growth of non gender conformity, so as most of these terms are quite recent, there’s nothing to compare to. This would have been the same for girls and women at one point.
Yes, Capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy are all contributing factors. The world is very distorted as white western men are not the dominant demographic, as there are more Eastern countries. They have only been dominant because of the colonization. These issues have always been around and they never went away, it’s more dominant now because of how much attention there is. It’s catch 22 with mainstream media, but platforms like Substack and some social media can help challenge the narrative.