by the El Reportero Staff
Amid growing concern about the alarming rise in autism diagnoses, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promised to uncover the root causes of what he terms an “autism epidemic” by this September. The pledge comes as part of a sweeping multinational research effort involving “hundreds of scientists from around the world,” tasked with investigating environmental, medical, and societal factors behind the disorder’s surge.
“We’ve launched a massive testing and research effort,” Kennedy announced during a recent White House Cabinet meeting. “By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic, and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.”
Autism diagnoses in the U.S. have soared from 1 in 10,000 during Kennedy’s childhood to a staggering 1 in 31 children today, according to the latest estimates. “It is an epidemic,” he insisted. “Epidemics are not caused by genes. Genes can provide a vulnerability, but you need an environmental toxin.”
For Elizabeth Baldelomar, a woman from Argentina who has lived with autism her entire life, the science may be catching up too late — but she welcomes the attention.
“I’ve carried this silence for too long,” Baldelomar told El Reportero. “People see autism, but they don’t see the bruises behind it. My father didn’t understand what I was. He called me lazy, broken. I was punished for being different.”
Baldelomar’s life has been shaped not only by the condition but by relentless maltrato — abuse — from both her family and broader society. She describes growing up in a household where her behaviors were not seen as symptoms but as disobedience. “They thought I was defiant. But I wasn’t trying to fight — I was trying to survive,” she said.
As Kennedy’s team explores factors including vaccines, food systems, air and water quality, and parenting norms, Baldelomar reflects on a lifetime of misunderstanding. “If they find out why more children are like me, maybe future children won’t be treated like I was,” she says.
While Kennedy has long courted controversy with his vaccine skepticism — a view reinforced by the founding of his organization Children’s Health Defense — he emphasized that the current investigation is casting a wide net. “We’re going to look at vaccines, but we’re going to look at everything. Everything is on the table.”
Mainstream researchers continue to debate the rise in autism, often attributing it to broader diagnostic criteria and increased awareness. But Kennedy believes the answer lies in modern environmental conditions and medical protocols. “We know that it is an environmental toxin that is causing this cataclysm,” he stated. “And we are going to identify it.”
Baldelomar hopes the answers Kennedy seeks might do more than identify environmental toxins — perhaps they can help society confront the human cost of misunderstanding neurodiversity.
“I’ve lived in the shadows,” she said. “If someone had understood what I was going through when I was a child, maybe I wouldn’t have had to fight so hard just to be seen.”
As the September deadline looms, families around the world — and survivors like Baldelomar — wait with cautious hope. Whether or not the cause is found, the conversation itself may finally open long-closed doors.
What is the true cause of autism? @RobertKennedyJr says we will know by September… 👀 pic.twitter.com/zmXGF4zOIX
— LifeSiteNews (@LifeSite) April 11, 2025
