The APA Offers a Tepid Defense of Autistic People

Worse than tepid. It was stagnant and performative, and missed the point entirely.

I repeat: RFK Jr. can R-FK Right Off

Yesterday I wrote about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appalling speech about autism in his first press conference as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the United States on April 16th. It was disgustingly ableist and eugenicist, but the sad part is, few people were actually surprised by RFK Jr. spouting ignorant disinformation based on unfounded conspiracy theories. Most of us know how dangerously unqualified he is to be Secretary of HHS, so we expected something insulting and offensive from him.

The American Psychological Association (APA), on the other hand, is a professional organization representing registered practicing psychologists in the U.S. On their website, they claim to be “the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States”.

So when RFK Jr. said horrible things about Autistic people, like we “destroy families”, and promotes the eugenicist idea that we should eradicate autism (and therefore Autistic people), we expect organizations such as the APA — among many others — to stand up and speak out against such harmful, hateful rhetoric.

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Enter the APA

Yesterday, the APA posted a statement on their social media accounts. It read,

“Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental condition that is caused by differences in the brain. People with autism can and do lead rich, productive lives. APA supports empirical, peer-reviewed research to help us better understand and work with autistic people and their families. Science demonstrates that early diagnosis and intervention for children greatly improves their start in life and longer-term prognosis. Our priority must be to strengthen and expand services, using the science to ensure that every autistic person has the support and resources they need to thrive.”—APA CEO, Arthur C. Evans, Jr.

*Slow, sarcastic clap*

Right out of the gate, the APA actually doubles down on RFK’s narrative that we need to be “productive” (i.e. feed capitalism) in order to lead rich lives. That’s annoying yet predictable, but it is actually so much worse. On its surface, this statement might seem a little underwhelming, but unproblematic. I’ll explain why this is worse than coming out with a soft statement in response to such a disturbing message from RFK.