When the first iteration of the law passed in 2006, it was known as the Combating Autism Act. As that name suggests, its aim was to fund research into causes and potential cures, with the goal of eradicating the syndrome. In the nearly two decades since, disability advocates have won more seats on the committee that oversees how the money is spent, which involves nearly two dozen federal agencies. Given a say in what is prioritized, they have secured to develop services to improve autistic people鈥檚 lives, such as faster diagnosis, better special education strategies, communication technologies and effective mental health treatment.

Still, just 13% of federal funds on autistic people鈥檚 well-being, versus 63% on investigations into biology, genetics and potential environmental influences 鈥� some of it presumably in service of wiping out what advocates argue is a naturally occurring neurotype.

In recent, heated Senate confirmation hearings, the potential secretary of health and human services waffled when grilled about his repeated, false statements asserting that vaccines cause autism. Though hundreds of studies worldwide have ruled out a link, Kennedy called for a fresh 鈥� and presumably costly 鈥� review.

The idea that Kennedy could attempt to divert federal funding away from autistic people鈥檚 long-sought priorities to instead revisit established science has been . Based on the offensive stereotypes Kennedy has used when talking about autistic people, say he will set back decades of progress if confirmed. 

鈥淸He thinks] it’s better to risk getting a deadly disease and your children dying than to be autistic,鈥� says Zoe Gross, the director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. 鈥淭hat’s obviously a very stigmatizing and fearmongering way to talk about autism.鈥�

In 2015, she notes, Kennedy apologized for comparing autism, which he wrongly asserted destroys the brain, to a genocide caused by vaccines. 鈥淭hey get the shot, that night they have a fever of 103 [degrees], they go to sleep and three months later their brain is gone,鈥� he . 鈥淭his is a Holocaust, what this is doing to our country.鈥�

Advocates say Kennedy鈥檚 long history of talking about autism as something to be eradicated has alarming echoes of to 鈥渆uthanize鈥� autistic people, who were seen as a financial and genetic burden to society.  

鈥淭his attitude toward autism is kind of a canary in the coal mine situation,鈥� says Gross. 鈥淜ennedy鈥檚 beliefs about autism go hand in hand with some other really dangerous beliefs.鈥�

Advocates also argue that Kennedy has financial conflicts of interest. He has earned a reported $2.5 million in fees for referring potential clients to a law firm pursuing a claiming the human papillomavirus vaccine, Gardasil, is unsafe. 

Despite his family鈥檚 decades of staunch advocacy for improving the lives of people with disabilities, Kennedy believes autism was rare or nonexistent until 1989, often insisting that there were no profoundly autistic children when he was growing up and he does not know any autistic adults. 

鈥淚 have never in my life seen a man my age with full-blown autism, not once,鈥� Kennedy said in a 2023 . 鈥淲here are these men? One out of every 22 men who are walking around the mall with helmets on, who are non-toilet-trained, nonverbal, stimming, toe-walking, hand-flapping. I鈥檝e never seen it.鈥�

It鈥檚 generally accepted that much of the increase in positive diagnoses can be attributed to . Previously, children 鈥� and, in particular, girls 鈥� often went undiagnosed if their autistic traits were subtle. If the symptoms were more profound, the children were categorized as schizophrenic or having a developmental disorder instead. As a result, the number of kids with an autism diagnosis has risen from 1 in 150 in 2000 to 1 in 36 today. 

Public schools are bound by the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act and portions of the Americans with Disabilities Act to provide a broad array of services to people with disabilities from birth to their 22^nd birthday. Because of this, the CARES Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services to work in concert with the Education and Agriculture departments.

The CARES Act does not fund special education per se, but pays for research on effective instruction; technology to enable the 25% to 30% of autistic people who are nonverbal or minimally speaking to communicate; and to identify strategies to help autistic people who age out of special education find new services and ideally achieve independence, among other things. 

In some places, the funds defray the cost of evaluating children as quickly as possible so they can get crucial early interventions, notes David Rivera, the president and founder of a California nonprofit, . 

鈥淭he program has helped fund, in a single year, more than 100,000 people receiving diagnoses 鈥� or ruling them out,鈥� says Rivera, who is autistic. 鈥淒iagnosis allows access to services.鈥� 

The latest version of the law requires the development of a strategy to address a desperate shortage of developmental-behavioral pediatricians, the providers most qualified to diagnose autism and assess children鈥檚 needs. Throughout the country, there are , leaving families who are unable to have their children assessed through a school system to wait as long as two years or more for private evaluations.

Last year, Rivera lobbied for the law鈥檚 renewal, crediting it for 鈥溾�� undergirding effective strategies that helped him go from failing classes in elementary and middle school to gaining admission to the University of California, Berkeley, where he is a political science major.

Diverting federal funding from efforts like those that have made him successful is 鈥渢he equivalent of throwing money into a fire,鈥� Rivera says.

The 2024 version of the law is the fifth. Each time Congress has rewritten it, autistic people and advocacy organizations have lobbied to to include funding for research and programs intended to improve autists鈥� lives. 

As the public鈥檚 understanding of how many people are autistic 鈥� and how their autism manifests 鈥� changed, the law has been revised to require leaders of a host of federal agencies, such as departments of justice, labor, veterans affairs and housing and urban development, to participate on the on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, which oversees how the money is spent. 

Advocates have also fought to increase the number of committee seats reserved for members of the public who are autistic, parents and . The panel currently has a nonverbal member and one with an intellectual disability in addition to autism. New and returning members are appointed after each reauthorization. 

Health and Human Services officials did not respond to a request from 蜜桃影视 for comment, but as of press time, said the agency would solicit new public members in early 2025. 

Right now, there are more caregivers and autistic members than are required by law, says Gross. 

鈥淐ertainly they could go down to the bare minimum,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd I think it would be difficult to find self-advocates who have those same beliefs that vaccines cause autism, [but] I’m not going to say it’s impossible.鈥�