Letter to the Editor: Autistic people are people too

I am furious about how this administration has maligned the autistic community and has done its absolute best to defund the ongoing research in labs and universities across the country.  According to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy, autistic individuals "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 on a date". I was the Special Olympics track coach for the Cape Cod Waves adult track team, which included a few individuals on the spectrum. These people are not the incompetent, nonathletic individuals Kennedy portrays them to be. They are intelligent. They date. They marry and have children. They have jobs and pay taxes. They are proud athletes. 

To add insult to that heinous comment by Kennedy, the administration is using smoke and mirror distractions, continuing to cut funding, pretending they're going to fund research into environmental causes of autism, while simultaneously defunding autism research by lumping it into DEI and gender ideology purge. 

Research funding is down $31 million in 2025. Researchers fear cuts will delay autism research and progress in fighting it. 

It’s time for us to step up and stand up against this injustice!

Candace B. Johansen