President Donald Trump announced Monday that his administration believes it’s found one contributing factor of autism and a possible treatment, though experts have said such claims are inconclusive and not backed by scientific evidence.
Erin McCanlies was listening to the radio one morning in April when she heard Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promising to find the cause of autism by September. The secretary of Health and Human Services said he believed an environmental toxin was responsible for the dramatic increase in the condition and vowed to gather “the most credible scientists from all over the world” to solve the mystery.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the department will shift its research into autism toward potential environmental causes, though he declined to say exactly what the Trump administration would do if certain industries or pollutants were found responsible.
In the past decade, autism prevalence has increased to 1 in 36, which may reflect work to improve autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, particularly of autistic females.
A tablet-based screening application for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may improve early detection, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
