Factchecking the Trump administration’s Autism claims
More or Less: behind the statistics
Saturday, 31 May 2025 - 10 minutes
Picking Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine sceptic, as the Secretary for Public Health might not be the most ‘out there’ thing the Trump administration has done but it certainly raised some eyebrows.
Since his appointment Kennedy has been on a mission to ‘Make America Healthy again’ and has set his sights on finding ‘the cure’ for Autism.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurological and developmental disorder that can affect how someone communicates, socialises, learns and behaves. In the 1980’s one study estimated that 4 in 10,000 (1 in 2500) children in Wisconsin had an Autism diagnosis. Recent data from the Centres for Disease control states that 1 in 31 eight year olds in the US have the condition.
Why have the numbers gone up? Is it due to environmental toxins as Robert Kennedy suggests or does the answer lie in the counting?
Presenter/Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Studio Manager: Andrew Mills
Editor: Richard Vadon
Subscribe to this podcast
Now and Next
-
-
The Friday Feeling with Lyndon Edwards6:00pm - 7:00pm
Some great dance choons to start your weekend
-
Mike Zeller's Album Show7:00pm - 8:00pm
A look at some of the latest releases and some classic album tracks
-
