On September 22nd, President Trump, RFK Jr., and other members of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leadership held a press conference that contained false and harmful information about autism, acetaminophen, and vaccines. You can read our full statement on these issues in both formal language and plain language here .
Several ASAN staff had the opportunity to share our thoughts with multiple media outlets. You can read the stories featuring quotes from ASAN staff members and program alum below.
Press Highlights
- PBS: Autism advocate calls Trump’s statements on the condition ‘stigmatizing’
- “Autism isn’t going anywhere, and that’s not something you should be scared of. What we need is to be included in society, accepted and accommodated, whether that’s with job accommodations at work or individualized education plans in school, whether that’s affordable, accessible housing or services through Medicaid. We belong in society, and we deserve our rights and we deserve accommodations.”
- Zoe Gross, ASAN’s Director of Advocacy
- “Autism isn’t going anywhere, and that’s not something you should be scared of. What we need is to be included in society, accepted and accommodated, whether that’s with job accommodations at work or individualized education plans in school, whether that’s affordable, accessible housing or services through Medicaid. We belong in society, and we deserve our rights and we deserve accommodations.”
- NPR: Trump admin ‘seems to care very little about autistic people,’ says advocate
- “I think we’ve been pretty consistently horrified by what this administration has said about autism, going back to Secretary Kennedy talking about autism destroying people and destroying families and giving this laundry list of activities that autistic people supposedly can’t do. This administration talks so much about autism. It seems to care very little about autistic people.”
- Colin Killick, ASAN’s Executive Director
- “I think we’ve been pretty consistently horrified by what this administration has said about autism, going back to Secretary Kennedy talking about autism destroying people and destroying families and giving this laundry list of activities that autistic people supposedly can’t do. This administration talks so much about autism. It seems to care very little about autistic people.”
- MSNBC: Trump’s announcement linking Tylenol and autism is already doing major damage
- “When you describe persons having been destroyed, it means you’re breaking them off, they’re gone,” Colin Killick, the executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, told me in an interview before the news conference. “We have full, meaningful lives that are worth living, and we need to be listened to.”
- Colin Killick, ASAN’s Executive Director
- “When you describe persons having been destroyed, it means you’re breaking them off, they’re gone,” Colin Killick, the executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, told me in an interview before the news conference. “We have full, meaningful lives that are worth living, and we need to be listened to.”
- New York Times: ‘Autism Doesn’t Need a Cure’: Trump’s Message Rankles People Living With the Disability
- “This administration seems to care a lot about autism as a supposed epidemic,” said Colin Killick, the executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. “It does not seem to care much at all about autistic people.”
- Colin Killick, ASAN’s Executive Director
- Jordyn Zimmerman, 30, an autistic woman who communicates through augmented methods instead of speaking, said she would rather see the administration focus on expanding such technology, which she did not have access to until she was 18 years old, and providing other support for people with disabilities.“When the administration focuses on things like this,” Ms. Zimmerman said in an email interview, “it draws attention away from the things we actually need.”
- Jordyn Zimmerman, ASAN Autism Campus Inclusion Program alumni and self-advocate
- “This administration seems to care a lot about autism as a supposed epidemic,” said Colin Killick, the executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. “It does not seem to care much at all about autistic people.”
- Washington Post: As Trump ties Tylenol to autism, doctors raise alarms
- “It’s wild,” said Colin Killick, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. “They are playing loose with facts to show the appearance of a connection rather than doing responsible science.”
- Colin Killick, ASAN’s Executive Director
- “It’s wild,” said Colin Killick, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. “They are playing loose with facts to show the appearance of a connection rather than doing responsible science.”
- BBC: ‘A mind game’: Trump administration moves rock autism community
- Zoe Gross, head of advocacy for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a group run by and for autistic people, called it “alarming” and “stigmatising”. “They were so aggressive in how much they don’t like autism and think it should go away”, she noted, saying she and others with autism took it personally.
- Zoe Gross, ASAN’s Director of Advocacy
- Zoe Gross, head of advocacy for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a group run by and for autistic people, called it “alarming” and “stigmatising”. “They were so aggressive in how much they don’t like autism and think it should go away”, she noted, saying she and others with autism took it personally.
- The Independent: Trump says ‘taking Tylenol is not good’ for pregnant women and children as he makes wild claims about ‘causes’ of autism
- Colin Killick, the executive director for the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, criticized the efforts by the Trump administration in an interview before the announcement. “And the other thing, of course, is even if we knew that there was a statistical correlation between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and autism, it wouldn’t necessarily follow that that meant that the acetaminophen was causing the autism,” Killick told The Independent.
- Colin Killick, ASAN’s Executive Director
- Colin Killick, the executive director for the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, criticized the efforts by the Trump administration in an interview before the announcement. “And the other thing, of course, is even if we knew that there was a statistical correlation between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and autism, it wouldn’t necessarily follow that that meant that the acetaminophen was causing the autism,” Killick told The Independent.
- USA Today: ‘We’ve regressed so horribly’: Autism groups respond to Trump administration’s Tylenol claims
- “The announcement is an incorrect reading of data,” said Noor Pervez, Community Engagement Manager at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). “The way that RFK Jr. speaks about autism is actively dehumanizing, and it promotes stigma against autistic people.”
- Noor Pervez, ASAN’s Community Engagement Manager
- “The announcement is an incorrect reading of data,” said Noor Pervez, Community Engagement Manager at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). “The way that RFK Jr. speaks about autism is actively dehumanizing, and it promotes stigma against autistic people.”
- USA Today (Op-Ed): I’m autistic. Trump and RFK Jr. must stop treating us like a plague to be eradicated.
- “We have asked for greater investment in Medicaid community services that would help more autistic people lead independent lives. Instead, the president’s budget reconciliation bill will lead to hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid funding cuts. We have asked for an end to policies that let people with disabilities be paid less than the minimum wage. The administration has withdrawn regulations that would have done just that. Most of all, we have told the administration that we are not a plague, nor “destroyed” people who can be given up on, and we have been consistently ignored.”
- Colin Killick, ASAN’s Executive Director
- “We have asked for greater investment in Medicaid community services that would help more autistic people lead independent lives. Instead, the president’s budget reconciliation bill will lead to hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid funding cuts. We have asked for an end to policies that let people with disabilities be paid less than the minimum wage. The administration has withdrawn regulations that would have done just that. Most of all, we have told the administration that we are not a plague, nor “destroyed” people who can be given up on, and we have been consistently ignored.”
- Mother Jones: Disgust, Horror, and “Elimination”: Trump and RFK Jr.’s Eugenicist Autism Conference
- “Saying that the goal of this project is to ‘end autism’ is only going to further terrify autistic people and our families, and make it even harder for us to get the services and supports we need,” said Greg Robinson, director of public policy at the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. “Our autism is an inherent part of who we are, and the long history of trying to ‘cure’ or eliminate autism has been a history of terrible abuse and dangerous sham treatments.”
- Greg Robinson, ASAN’s Director of Public Policy
- “Saying that the goal of this project is to ‘end autism’ is only going to further terrify autistic people and our families, and make it even harder for us to get the services and supports we need,” said Greg Robinson, director of public policy at the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. “Our autism is an inherent part of who we are, and the long history of trying to ‘cure’ or eliminate autism has been a history of terrible abuse and dangerous sham treatments.”
- Bloomberg: Autism Needs Support, Not Blame and Judgment
- The suggestion that autism was somehow preventable — and the underlying message that the world would be better off without it — was particularly gut-wrenching. “Hearing them say that their goal is to end autism? That’s deeply alarming in our community,” says Colin Killick, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. “What we know — and when I think any expert will tell you — is that autism is not a disease you can eradicate because it’s a fundamental part of neurodiversity. Autistic people have always existed.”
- Colin Killick, ASAN’s Executive Director
- The suggestion that autism was somehow preventable — and the underlying message that the world would be better off without it — was particularly gut-wrenching. “Hearing them say that their goal is to end autism? That’s deeply alarming in our community,” says Colin Killick, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. “What we know — and when I think any expert will tell you — is that autism is not a disease you can eradicate because it’s a fundamental part of neurodiversity. Autistic people have always existed.”
- Newsweek: Donald Trump’s Tylenol Autism Remarks Spark Alarm From Doctors
- Colin Killick, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, told The Washington Post that officials are “playing loose with facts” to suggest a link between Tylenol and autism without conducting responsible science.
- Colin Killick, ASAN’s Executive Director
- The Autistic Self Advocacy Network said in a statement posted on X: “Today, the President held a press conference with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other members of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) leadership. During the press conference, speakers shared harmful, false information about autism, acetaminophen, and vaccines. An HHS that does not provide accurate information to the President and make safe, science-informed decisions puts us all at grave risk.”
- Quoting ASAN social media
- Colin Killick, executive director of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, told The Washington Post that officials are “playing loose with facts” to suggest a link between Tylenol and autism without conducting responsible science.
- Science News: With little proof, Trump links Tylenol to autism and touts a treatment
- What’s more, foregoing pain relief will lead to suffering, Pervez points out. “These claims will also lead some pregnant people, including pregnant autistic people, to needlessly suffer by convincing them that the painkiller most commonly used during pregnancy is not safe.”
- Noor Pervez, ASAN’s Community Engagement Manager
- What’s more, foregoing pain relief will lead to suffering, Pervez points out. “These claims will also lead some pregnant people, including pregnant autistic people, to needlessly suffer by convincing them that the painkiller most commonly used during pregnancy is not safe.”
- Connecticut Public Radio (podcast interview): The vaccine debate continues, plus a look at Tylenol use in pregnancy
- “This administration is talking a lot about autism, but taking away a lot of things that actually help autistic people.”
- Colin Killick, ASAN’s Executive Director
- “This administration is talking a lot about autism, but taking away a lot of things that actually help autistic people.”