It looks like half of America loves Donald Trump and the other half loathes him. Best not to even ask people in Canada and Mexico.
One very good thing about the Don is that he is fully aware of the explosion in autism diagnosis since 1980 and he naturally asks why is it happening? Having figured that one out, you then move on to what to do about it: celebrate it, treat it, fix it, prevent it, ignore it, or just endlessly research it?
We know that Elon Musk was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome and Bill Gates has announced that he likely had autism as a child. Kanye West has just announced that he was mistakenly diagnosed with bipolar disorder but now has an autism diagnosis.
Almost every time there is a mass shooting the perpetrator either has, or is seeking, an autism diagnosis.
At the other end of the spectrum, children with severe autism cannot get placements in special schools because there are no spaces. Mainstream schools now often have multiple kids with severe autism and their aides in regular classes, where previously there were none.
Rather than just accept this new normal, how about doing something about it? I have done my part and changed my world — it is possible.
Under Trump 2.0 it is very clear that many things are going to change.
It would be great if a genuine review was carried out into all pediatric psychiatric diagnoses and special educational needs in young people.
Throw away the rulebook and write a new one.
Create new diagnosis protocols that stratify the population correctly and in a way people can understand and that does not create infighting like we see today. Don’t lump Kanye in with people who cannot talk, take a shower independently or tie their Yeezy shoelaces.
All common sense you would think, but in 12 years of writing this autism blog I very rarely encounter much common sense.
I certainly do not agree with everything the Don says or does, but to unleash RFK Jr on trying to make America healthy again looks a great idea.
As we have seen in this blog and in my book, it is wrong to say, “vaccines cause autism” but correct to say, “vaccines can cause autism.” This was proven by Dr Jon Poling and his Johns Hopkins colleagues in a case filed in 2008 against the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Very many things can cause “autism:” it was mitochondrial dysfunction in the Poling case, but even a mosquito bite leading to cerebral malaria in a child can produce cognitive deficits, behavioral difficulties, and epilepsy, which I guess also counts as “autism” these days. There are many hundreds of documented factors that can lead to autism; some are random genetic mutations, but many can be controlled and minimized.
So, RFK, please go ahead and disrupt away. I am more than happy to have Amazon send you a free copy of my book! You may not agree with all of it, but then, you are not supposed to.
Go and ask all the questions you are not supposed to ask.
Challenge vested interests.
Forget political correctness and focus on the facts.
Tear up DSM5 (the Diagnositic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) and make a new one. Save a decade and use some AI, check with Elon.
Don’t employ people with a psychiatric diagnosis or from persecuted minorities in your autism team; recruit from the vast pool of well-adjusted regular people out there — people without a built-in bias and their own agenda.