Holly Robinson Peete Slams RFK Jr.'s Claims About Autism

Holly Robinson Peete, the mother of a son with autism and a longtime advocate, called out Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s false claims about the disorder.

On Wednesday (April 16), Kennedy, Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services, held a news conference during which he discussed a recent CDC study about the rise of autism diagnoses across the country.

Kennedy falsely referred to autism as a "disease," cited the rising diagnosis rates as "alarming" and an "epidemic," and claimed "environmental toxins" were to blame for the increase.

"Autism destroys families, and more importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be suffering like this," he claimed. “These are kids who will never pay taxes. They'll never hold a job. They'll never play baseball. They'll never write a poem. They'll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted."

Kennedy received widespread backlash for his comments, including from Peete, whose 27-year-old son, RJ, was diagnosed with autism when he was three.

In several social media posts, Peete called the HHS secretary's claims about autism "triggering," ignorant, and "bulls**t."

"I don't even know where to start. I really don't even know where to begin. So much to unpack," Peete said in a video. "Let's start here. Okay. I am not an expert. I'm not a doctor. I'm just somebody's mama and someone who's been advocating for the autism community, a community that I care deeply about, for 25 years. And I don't know everything, but I do know this: autism is not a disease. It is a disorder, a developmental disorder. And it is important to get that right if you are the Secretary of Health and Human Services."

"So that, off the top, really triggered me. And then came the list of nevers," she continued.

Peete recalled how her son's pediatrician initially "rolled out a laundry list of 'nevers' that RJ would never do, never be, never have, never achieve" when he was first diagnosed in 2000.

"She said he would never mainstream in school, have friends, have meaningful employment, drive, live on his own, never say 'I love you,' never play team sports. I mean, this lady had a long list of things that she said he would never do. And so when the Secretary of Health and Human Services just ran off another never list, it triggered me in ways I can't even describe."

The actress noted that her son, now 27, has "actually checked off and shattered most of those nevers off of that list."

"So when I hear someone like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. say, and describe our children as 'family destroyers,' I felt the weight of every parent who's ever had to fight three times, four times as hard just to prove their child's worth. And it just plays into every stereotype and stigma that every person with autism has ever had to fight to overcome," she said.

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