Did the Autism Epidemic Start in 1989?

Why do some people think that an autism epidemic started in 1989?

The usual suspects…

Did the Autism Epidemic Start in 1989?

In an interview with John Stossel that includes a lot of misinformation about chronic disease and vaccines, not surprisingly, Robert F Kennedy, Jr also talks about autism.

“…because Congress actually said to the EPA, tell us what year the autism epidemic began. And EPA came back and said, it’s a red line, 1989.”

RFK Jr on Deficits, War, Green Energy, Chronic Disease and Vaccines

Kennedy says that per the EPA, an autism epidemic began in 1989.

You have probably guessed that like most things Kennedy says, this isn’t true.

“Well, that’s the year all the food allergies started… Autoimmune disease. This is not normal John. This is from mass poisoning our children.”

RFK Jr on Deficits, War, Green Energy, Chronic Disease and Vaccines

How are our children being poisoned?

Surprisingly, Kennedy doesn’t think it is just from vaccines! He also blames glyphosate, high fructose corn syrup, pesticides, and processed foods, etc.

Getting back to the EPA and autism though, as you likely suspected, the EPA never said that an autism epidemic began in 1989.

“For both California and Denmark a changepoint for increasing AD cumulative incidence was calculated; it was 1987.5 in both cases (Table 1). For the worldwide data set, a changepoint also was calculated and it was 1988.7 (Table 1).”

Timing of Increased Autistic Disorder Cumulative Incidence

An EPA scientist did publish a study suggesting “a changepoint for increasing AD cumulative incidence” in 1989, but that’s not the same thing as the EPA saying that the autism epidemic began in 1989…

There was no “red line!”

And the EPA scientist was clear that there were “confounding issues associated with interpreting the increased AD cumulative incidence observed in the administrative data.”

The kind of confounding issues that Kennedy never talks about, like the fact that:

• studies done in the 1960s were concluding that large institutions were not the best way to treat autistic kids
• laws in the 1950s and 1960s improved educational access for disabled students
• the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 stated that children with disabilities could no longer be excluded from school
• the IDEA, in 1990, included autism as a separate disability, making it a little easier to get services

Do you see the big reason for the rise in kids being diagnosed with autism and why there might have been a “changepoint” in 1989?

Do you understand why you might not have seen autistic kids in school before the 1970s? Remember, Kennedy says he had never heard of autism until he saw the movie Rain Man…

“The authors recommend that developmental surveillance be incorporated at every well-child preventive care visit. Any concerns raised during surveillance should be promptly addressed with standardized developmental screening tests. In addition, screening tests should be administered regularly at the 9-, 18-, and 30-month visits.”

Identifying Infants and Young Children With Developmental Disorders in the Medical Home: An Algorithm for Developmental Surveillance and Screening

Do you understand why autism rates might have continued to go up, as per recommendations in 2006, pediatricians began actively screening all infants and toddlers for autism?

“As far as I’m concerned, he and Children’s Health Defense have blood on their hands.”

A Note on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Does anyone know why Kennedy never brings up any of these factors when he talks about an autism epidemic?

More on Kennedy and Autism

• How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Hurts Autistic Families
• If It’s Vaccines, Then Why Are There Autistic Kids Who Are Unvaccinated?
• Explaining the Correlation of Autism After Vaccines
• Competing Anti-Vaccine Autism Theories
• Why Did Autism Rates Decline in This California County?
• Anti-vaccine Propaganda about Skyrocketing Chronic Diseases
• Statement from ASF President about RFK Jr
• What RFK Jr. Gets Wrong About Autism
• A Note on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
• Timing of Increased Autistic Disorder Cumulative Incidence
• RFK Jr on Deficits, War, Green Energy, Chronic Disease and Vaccines.
• A History of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act
• The Boston Globe. The Special Child. From Isolation to life’s mainstream.Sun, Jun 08, 1975 ·Page 93
• Identifying Infants and Young Children With Developmental Disorders in the Medical Home: An Algorithm for Developmental Surveillance and Screening
• No, the autism “rate” in California did not go down after removing thimerosal from vaccines
• No, the autism prevalence did not go down in Denmark after the removal of thimerosal
• More Evidence that Autism is Genetic
• RFK Jr.s Autism Conspiracy Theory

Last Updated on September 4, 2024