The real story on autism
What RFK Jr.'s conspiracy-driven quest to find a "cause" for autism misses, and expert Simon Baron-Cohen on what autistic people actually contribute to, shape, and need from society
This past week, as part of his evisceration of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. turned his attention to a lifelong goal — establishing the imagined link between vaccines and autism that took hold after the publication of the since-debunked work of Andrew Wakefield. Kennedy has announced a task force, suggested a national registry to track people on the autism spectrum, and hired a crank to conduct “research” to “solve” the supposed problem of neurodivergence. People with autism and their advocates are aghast and see the move as a threat to their identities and even their existence
Last month, we had a riveting conversation with one of the world’s leading scholars of and advocates for people with autism, Simon Baron-Cohen. We talked about the debate around how people on the spectrum shaped Silicon Valley in general, and the role that autism might play in influencing the highly influential actors — like Elon Musk — who are now shaping all of our lives. The conversation was fascinating, because Baron-Cohen made clear the dual challenge: autism remains for most regular citizens a difficult fact to navigate in a world not yet hospitable to neurodifference. At the same time, a small number of highly capable and powerful actors on the spectrum are bringing their systematizing nature to bear on the world, and there may be, he argued, a need for more balance around them and more empathy in the development of tools like social media algorithms and AI.
With so many half-truths out there, it’s a conversation that’s worth revisiting right now.
A programming note: Live conversations this week!
We’re back Live again this week, with three special guests. Join us this afternoon, Tuesday, April 22, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, when we’ll talk to the economist Dani Rodrik. And tomorrow, Wednesday, April 23, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, we’ll be speaking with the writer, lawyer, and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. Then on Thursday, April 24, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, we’ll be joined by labor leader Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL–CIO. You won’t want to miss any of these!
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A distinction has to be made between people on the autism spectrum who are profoundly developmentally delayed - non-verbal, self-harming, not toilet-trained,- and people on the autism spectrum who are highly functional and intelligent. I think it's destructive to speak as if autism encompasses only the high end of the spectrum and ignore a the heart -rending pain of the profoundly disabled and their parents or care-takers, and their need for help. It would be interesting to know if the increase in autism diagnoses applies to the profoundly disabled as well the functional. If it's the latter, then the diagnostic increase may very well be based on a newer understanding that autism spans a spectrum and therefore the diagnostic criteria are broader.
Temple Grandin may be the most famous autistic person alive today. She is a scientist responsible for developing humane, non-traumatizing methods of slaughtering animals and inventing numerous other successful and humanizing innovations. She has written a book on visual thinking, which she has also geared, among other books, towards helping young people. She believes that autism has a biological basis.
But when she speaks, and I was lucky enough to see and hear her at her workplace, Colorado State University, she speaks of a young person's need for mentorship. But also to be valued for what they can contribute, rather than always being measured by test scores that may completely overlook their gifts.
She emphasizes society's emphasis, for one, on excelling in math, whereas many people may not excel but are remarkably skilled in mechanical tasks.
She is a scientist, a scholar, and a doer who believes in giving back. She is one example of our need to be thankful that such a person, and no doubt many others with autism, exist and can both thrive and contribute immensely to our world.