RFK Jr's comments on autism are chilling to disabled people the world over

Whether or not they are able to work is not the measure of a human’s worth. We are all human and we all have value, writes Julie O'Leary 

US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has plans to make a 'disease registry' for autism as though it is an outbreak of an epidemic. Photo: AP/Melissa Majchrzak

Recent comments about autism and disability by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr make me shudder. The well-known campaigner "to make America healthy again" has spoken about autism in a very damaging and stigmatising way. 

He has plans to make a “disease registry” for autism as though it is an outbreak of an epidemic. He wants to track the instance of autism for research and has spoken about “knowing the cause” by September.