Trump on autism

[BeHappySloth]

Sorry if there is another thread - I did look.

I mean, wtf??!!

The problem is that scientific studies aren’t what Trump and RFK Jr are talking about. They’re not interested in clinical evidence in the slightest.

The PP who referenced Trump suggesting light beams or bleach to cure COVID weren’t wrong. He’s an utter quack.

No one is upset about good-quality research being produced. RFK Jr is not interested in good-quality research. Or any kind of research that doesn’t support his wild theories - hence why eminent individuals have quit.

What people DO understandably get upset about are dark whispers that start conspiracy theories that have real world consequences.

If someone has legitimate concerns about medication or vaccines then it’s important to hear them. However what we usually get are people muttering about “big pharma” and skewing the data to prove their point rather than entering into the debate in good faith. And therein lies the issue.

Using unvaccinated children for a scientific study would be unethical. You’d need large numbers to get meaningful results and that would run the risk of encouraging people not to vaccinate their children to participate.

Scientific studies won’t be happening because Trump and RFK Jr don’t want clinical evidence - they just want to be proven right, regardless whether that’s true or not.

I thought I couldn’t despise that man more, but he finds a new level every time. Always have to remind myself that we in the UK gave Andrew Wakefield to the world, but we still don’t deserve the abject stupidity, authoritarian ego and moral vacuum that is Trump.

Honestly, honestly… aren’t we forgetting here that he has a history of firing people in positions and replacing them with those that tell him what he wants to hear? I mean, for example:

https://time.com/7292553/rfk-jr-removes-cdc-vaccine-committee-experts/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

No craziness whatsoever:

www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgrz75ezxjo.amp

Do you really think that that is not the case too here? We’re saying he defers to the experts, are we?

I get that is your opinion and I respect that. In my opinion RFK Jr will be focused on high quality, ethical scientific studies.

Genuinely, what makes you think that? I do find that fascinating. I truly hope you’re right. I truly believe you’re not.

It’s true that RFK JR has an extensive background in recreational chemistry… as he was a pretty hardcore cocaine and heroin addict for something like 15 years. He only quit when he overdosed on a plane and they found heroin on him (as well as in him), so he got caught and convicted. He was almost 30 at the time, nor a teenager, a married man trying to pass the bar exam.

Yet he blames his brain fog on a worm, and blames Tylenol for autism,

It's ok to disagree. There is a lot of deliberate misinformation about him out there, so I get your opinion and know it is common. We will only know when these studies have been done and the results shown, I guess. I don't have to be right, you can still be correct and that's ok too. I'm not trying to convince anyone. I wanted to throw out a difference of opinion on here that's all. These things become an echo chamber and I have a different view.

i grew up in the 80s and 90s and i can still remember children that when i look back. ( as an adult who has worked with many young people and children with Autism) i can absolutely see it in some of my old peers. Children with profound disabilities were hidden away…

Many of the children that were put in extra support in a completely different part of high school… autisitic. Some that were in top sets for everything but socially awkward maybe with few friends etc … Autistic. I’m not generalising … it’s more complex but i disagree that there were no children with autism growing up.

You are forgetting Autism is a spectrum and some of those children you confidently declare as not autistic were probably masking. Hence why so many adults now get later diagnosis.
.

I think that’s why I’m asking your opinion, I respect that you don’t want to go into more detail, but I genuinely do find it fascinating why somebody might think he is fit for this role and taking appropriate advice. I’m trying to make sure I’m not in an echo chamber, hence asking you here, but I just can’t get there with him. I really hope you’re right.

I also do think that there are quite a lot of people on here now who support Trump and his staff and advisers. Far more than there were in his first term which I admit I find inexplicable. I find it incredibly hard to understand, but I’m trying to.

Might be slightly difficult in terms of medical ethics when your control group start dying of polio, diphtheria, meningitis and everything else by the age of 5 though. However, if they're dead, they can't be diagnosed Autistic, I guess.

Yes, including babies too young for vaccinations
and good luck to the immunocompromised. I wonder whether the return of polio will shock people into understanding what vaccinations have done for us but perhaps not even that. Based on these American parents, whose child sadly died from measles, and who still standby their decision to not vaccinate, I think the brainwashing is deep.

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/20/texas-measles-family-gaines-county-death/

Those that are defending RFK jr. Do you know what a mess they are making of the scientific and health community and research in the H
USA ? They are cancelling research studies, removing funding for studies (paediatric oncology being one). They have lost and have gotten rid of many highly thought of staff that actually know what they are talking about.

He doesn’t have peoples best interests at heart, he wants people to be productive members of society and pay taxes ( he said it) and if you don’t fit in that mould then let’s cure you. I wouldn’t be surprised if people involved have interests in the next proposed cure.

I think it’s also yet another way to also bring women down which they seem keen to do. I work in healthcare and i’m now sure we will see pregnant women not taking para for fever, babies/fetus affected. Parents not wanting to give para for fever/illness in children. Just like we are seeing with vaccine's. I don’t blame them, they just believe the misinformation they are bombarded with.

To find out more about the history and character of RFK Jr, you would need to do some reading outside of the narrative of main stream media. They seem to want to discredit him entirely.

He has done lots of interviews which you could watch and look into some of the articles (all positive) published on him before he waded into the vaccine area.

He was an incredibly respected environmental lawyer, fighting for mercury to be taken out of waterways and won many, many cases against corrupt corporations. It's not going to be me that convinces anyone though. You might look into it and have your opinion confirmed he is a bad person. That's ok too.

I guess that's one way to look at it

Good post 👍

The claim that there are "parts of the world" too poor to use the drug and therefore "don't have autism" is neither scientific nor logical. The claim is so blatantly false that it seems wasteful to challenge it. This is an example of authoritarianism and the misuse of power.

So what happened to him then?

RFK Jr., once poisoned by mercury, is silent as EPA weakens rules against it

By ARIEL WITTENBERG | 03/18/2025 06:31 AM EDT

The HHS secretary has fought mercury pollution for years. He’s now in an administration that wants to make it easier for industries to dump it into the air and water.

He strikes me more as an opportunist. At any rate, I don’t want to debate this any longer. I did go further than the media. When his cousin (Caroline Kennedy, daughter of JFK and former Ambassador to Australia amongst other things) released a video about who he was, and his character, it was not good. He is a former long time drug addict and I was disgusted to hear that he actively convinced his young impressionable cousins to do drugs too - with disastrous outcomes.

I think what I struggle with is, trying to reconcile all of that, with the fact that he has now aligned himself with the Trump administration.

For instance, he used to be a proponent of free speech. Trump is having comedians fired for mocking him. As you’ve said he was an environmental activist - Trump is a disaster for the environment in so many ways we’d be here all day. I just can’t reconcile it. Whatever he was, I can’t believe he is now.

There is no clear causal link between paracetamol use in pregnancy and ADHD or autism in boys or girls.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

He may well have done some good work in different areas in the past, but he's letting his personal views and prejudices cloud an area which desperately needs an objective and scientific approach.

Just to take one example, one of the supposed "cures" for autism that he's been advocating for in the previous months has killed at least one child.

I agree that mainstream media is biased and unhelpful, but if you set aside the commentary and focus on bare facts, it's really hard to dismiss some of the very dangerous actions he's already taken, and the notable things he's failed to do.

When you have high-ranking scientists refusing to work for him and quitting, citing his views as unethical and dangerous, I really think it's worth listening.

I'm not here to convince you as you've obviously made your mind up that he's right. And I don't mean that in a disparaging way towards you. I appreciate the fact that the debate has been respectful.

It does feel disheartening though that intelligent women such as yourself are glossing over the very real harm he's doing. And I can't quite fathom out why any scientist would feel able to do that. Objectively, it's genuinely scary that a man like this has power and influence over medical research and policy.

You don't need to use children as controls to determine whether a particular vaccine causes autism.

There are now (unfortunately) enough unvaccinated children and adults that a simple comparison of the two groups can be used to assess effects of vaccination.

A group of unvaccinated children and a similar group of vaccinated children can be used. If vaccination had any effect on autism rates, then the vaccinated group should show a higher rate of autism than the unvaccinated one. Easy.

This has been done in every country, in different years, many, many times. Never have they found any vaccinated group with higher rates of autism than the unvaccinated group.

What they have found, however, is that unvaccinated children have much higher rates of (surprise, surprise) vaccine-preventable diseases.

Hope that helps.

There is no autism epidemic. There is increased awareness and diagnosis.

I have an autistic nephew. I also have an autistic maternal uncle, an autistic maternal second cousin and an autistic maternal grandfather. The autistic elders in my family weren't diagnosed but they are/were autistic none the less. Autism is a normal part of human diversity. So is ADHD. They are conditions that have existed as long as humans have existed.

Why do people think vaccines aren't tested in a double blind trial. I'm currently in such a trial and am being followed for 2 years.

It doesnt take many brain cells for people to beleive what they want to beleive people hear something on social media or the tv new or print media and just blindly go with it, there are lots or of people who lack intelligence to understand cetain things society knows that, there are gullible people who will beleive anything put in front of them the scary thing is there same people are breeding the next generation

He has taken on many polluting corporations over the years and done more for the environment than so many. He is now focusing on his role as secretary of Health. You will find many media hit pieces on him. Easy to find.