The Real Autism Crisis? We have an Epidemic of Ignorance, Not Autistic People—An Open Letter to RFK and the World

Eugenics in Disguise: How RFK's Autism Comments Harm the Autistic Community: We Are Not a Disease - Pushing Back Against RFK's Dehumanizing Anti-Autistic Rhetoric

I've been a bit snarky lately since the RFK thing last week.

For all the non-autistic people out there, I'd love to ask how you would feel if a public official said a group of people you belong to "has become an epidemic" this country needs to "solve"?

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I’m tired.

As an Autistic Person, I'm honestly tired of talking about Autism and justifying my existence as an Autistic Person to people who don't believe I am Autistic because they've been fed (and devoured) lies that Autism only has "one look" or can only create negative experiences in one's life.

Autistic People are a diverse group, but for a long time, only a snapshot of Autism was recognized (leaving countless Autistic People, especially those like me, to be unidentified).

What the numbers RFK keeps twisting actually show is that people like me (late identified Autistic People) should have been counted in the numbers over the past 30-40 years but weren't (because we weren't diagnosed as children).

Back then, Autism wasn't thought to look like me (because it was considered primarily to be "a boy's condition, "a myth RFK repeated last week in his horrific address).

Too many people today (including RFK, apparently) still think Autism can't look like me).

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Yes, being Autistic can bring real struggles to a person's life... but it can also bring joy.

Our medical books don't talk about the best parts or even the good parts (or the not-so-bad parts) of being Autistic, only describing Autistic struggles, pain, and suffering (leaving little room in the picture for Autistic joy, skills, or success). This one-sided portrayal has led some people to believe, falsely, that to be Autistic, a person's life must be marked with struggles, difficulty, and pain (or else a person is not actually Autistic).

Scrabble tiles on a table that spell out “fake news”

The assumption that an Autistic Person's life is nothing but pain and suffering (and can't be anything else) is harmful.

The assumption that Autistic People are only a list of deficits is harmful.

The assumption that an Autistic Person's life (or any life) only has value if they work, pay taxes, and live a traditional life (being a good cog in the system by reproducing and making money) is harmful (something that I feel should go without saying, but seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle last week).

Our lives have value because they are lives—because we are living things, and all living things deserve love, compassion, joy, and respect (even if they can't participate in capitalism).

It's sad that we even have to say it (that every life has value).

Should this not be assumed by now?

I shouldn't be surprised in a world that still thinks I must "hate my Autism" to be Autistic.

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I hope this helps,
- Lyric