FUELING STIGMA
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent claim that autism “destroys families” is not only offensive, it’s profoundly harmful. This rhetoric reflects a damaging, outdated view that stigmatizes neurodivergent individuals and adds unnecessary pain to families already navigating a complex world.
Autism doesn’t destroy families. What causes harm are misconceptions, isolation and lack of support fueled by exactly this kind of inflammatory language. Families of autistic individuals work hard to build inclusive, joyful lives filled with advocacy, growth and resilience. Reducing autism to a source of destruction erases these stories and reinforces stigma that leads to bullying, discrimination and underfunded services.
Words matter – especially from public figures. Kennedy’s platform gives his statements weight, and when he spreads myths, he fuels ableism and misinformation. Rather than offering support or seeking solutions, his comments spread shame and fear, further marginalizing a community that deserves respect and compassion.
Kennedy has a long history of promoting debunked claims linking vaccines to autism – claims discredited by decades of scientific research. Using autism as a political weapon not only endangers public health but ignores the real needs of autistic people and their families.
He claims children with autism can’t play baseball. I invite him to Jaycee Park in Chatham on spring Monday nights to see the games our daughter-in-law organizes. He could learn a lot from the athletes there.
The real harm isn’t autism – it’s ignorance and stigma, made worse by people like RFK Jr. who should know better.
Mike Murphy
Springfield
NOT CONSERVATIVE VALUES
There’s a lot to deal with in the article “Illinois Republicans explain support for Trump” (April 10). Let’s start with this quote: “Trump’s focus on traditional conservative issues such as immigration, government spending, “anti-wokeness” and less federal oversight also has reinvigorated right-leaning, rural communities.”
While spending and deregulation truly are “traditional conservative issues,” the fixation on immigration as a completely negative thing is much more recent. Trump’s focus on rounding people up and sending them – without due process – to prisons here and abroad is brand new and, I think we will learn, unconstitutional.
“Anti-wokeness” is not a traditional conservative value, though it’s certainly been embraced by many Republicans in the Trump era, which has been marked by a constant braying that policies that attempt to give equal opportunities to all Americans are unfair to white people.
Finally, it is, at the least, an exaggeration to claim the second Trump term has been focused on policymaking. What we’ve seen so far is mostly a series of executive orders focused on using government resources to punish people and institutions the president considers enemies.
The targets of his wrath include those who believe the Constitution should be followed which, once upon a time, was a traditional conservative ideal.
H. C. McBarron
Chicago
PLAN FOR POSITIVE CHANGES
Social Security recipients were recently called fraudsters. The Social Security Administration is gutted, and people receiving aid go from check to check, wondering if they’ll see one. We have become numb to the idea of earned benefits disappearing. It is time to wake up. Stop Medicare Advantage programs and allow Medicare to expand so that everyone is included, and no one is left out.
Millionaires pay the same amount into Social Security as someone who earns $160,000 a year. Everyone should pay 6% for their earnings and 6% for their employees. Small businesses would not have to purchase your health care. Insurance companies could only sell what our excellent government program does not offer. Employers would then have more resources to increase wages incrementally each year and provide job security.
It is time to stop using fear to destroy our government and privatize everything from prisons to post offices. Change can be planned and positive. This administration would like us to believe that our system of government is unpatriotic. They want all the power. Having a copy of the Constitution is good, not bad.
Joann Conrad
Springfield
This article appears in A legacy and a vision.
And here we go again. We get a knowledgable person into a job to correct the issues at hand and all of a sudden, the issue isnt the issue, its the person addressing the issue. Well of course, it is easier to bash RFK Jr than it is to address why there are so many autistic children today. After it has been proven that it was Big Pharma responsible for actually giving the vaccine a little extra that actually causes autism, it is easier to call out an individual because you know you cant beat Big Pharma..wrong! It WAS publicized but parents gave their children the vaccine anyway. Well my goodness, parents cant accept that responsibility, that would be cruel.