Holly Robinson Peete is not here for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent comments on autistic kids.
Kennedy, who is currently the Secretary of Health and Human Services, discussed a recent CDC study on the rise of autism diagnosis at a conference on Wednesday. His discussion was riddled with false claims, which sparked outrage from people online, Peete included.
During RFK Jr.’s speech, he stated, “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 said. “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.”
Additionally, the secretary referred to autism as a “disease” instead of a disorder and blamed “environmental toxins” for the rise in diagnosis.
Robisnon Peete was rightfully outraged at the erroneous comments made by RFK considering has a 27-year-old son named RJ who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. The actress shared several social media posts, which included an almost eight-minute-long video on Instagram debunking Kenned’s claims and labeling them “triggering,” ignorant, and “bulls–t.”
“…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,” the 60-year-old actress began. “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.”
The CDC defines autism as “a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain,” not a disease.
Robinson Peete continued, “So that, off the top, really triggered me. And then came the list of nevers. 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 21 Jump Street actress made it clear that her son defied every “never” and accomplished most of the things professionals said he wouldn’t do. Some of those things included being in mainstream school, having friends, driving, living alone, having meaningful employment, and saying ‘I love you’.
“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.
For over 20 years, the mother of four has been an active advocate for autism, spreading awareness and information. She was also the first African-American to sit on the board of Autism Speaks. The actress added that the messaging Kennedy is spreading is both ‘ignorance and institutionalized hopelessness,’
“…It is institutionalized hopelessness from the very office that’s supposed to protect public health. We’re getting fear, and, shame, and blame, and misinformation. This is not okay. Autism didn’t break my family. It made us braver, it made us closer, it made us more compassionate. If anything, I think my son didn’t rob me of having a normal child, he gave me a new lens of what it means to love unconditionally. A new lens on that.”
Since ASD is part of a ‘spectrum,’ Holly acknowledged that each child may need a different level of support.
“And, you know, they’re gonna have different levels of needs, but these are things that they can overcome,” she said. “And any official that’s tasked with leading this nation’s health policies, they should be celebrating the resilience of families that have overcome things, not dismissing them and giving us another ‘never’ day.”
The actress added that having a loved one with autism has its challenges but there is hope for them to reach their fullest potential.
“Look, having autism, having a loved one with autism is not easy. It’s not easy. And it can be very, very hard. But different families have different ways of overcoming it. And what we’re not doing is sitting here and labeling and limiting the potential of our children,” Peete said. “You know, I always say I would never change RJ for the world, but I will always try to change the world for RJ. And what we’re not gonna do is talk down on autism families and give them no hope.”
