Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is much in the political news. The ongoing controversy is intensified by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., head of Health and Human Services. Kennedy, who had never worked in the fields of medicine or public health, nonetheless has made infuriating statements such as “autism destroys families” and calling autism an “epidemic” that is “preventable.”
More recently he authorized a revision of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, where a long-debunked argument is resurrected: “the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.” The Seattle Times editorialized that Kennedy’s action “puts the health of Americans at risk” and diminishes the authority of the CDC.
Seattle has long been a center for the study of ASD. Last spring, the International Society for Autism Research held its annual meeting in Seattle. In April, a coalition of 50 advocacy groups and other organizations issued a joint statement asserting that vaccines do NOT cause autism. The statement called to respect the dignity of people on the spectrum and called for ongoing science-based research.
Many are disconcerted over the winnowing of the National Institutes of Health under RFK Jr.’s watch. Research grants have been cancelled and scientists laid off. Officially recognized as a distinct medical condition in 1980, today ASD encompasses those with
profound debilitating autism along with others who are quite functional and involved in a range of endeavors, skills, arts, and professions. Such individuals might be deemed shy or socially awkward, yet very capable of living normal lives. Consider the musician David Byrne or political activist Greta Thunberg, both of whom are on the spectrum.
Peter O’Neil is another with ASD. A married man, a father of three, an accomplished attorney, and musician, he was 65 when he got his diagnosis. His 2023 book, My So-called Disorder, is a poignant chronicle of how he navigated the world as an outsider and eventually found his way.
Growing up, O’Neil’s family was devoutly Catholic. He never doubted his parents’ affection for him and his siblings, even as his father drowned in alcoholism. Music buoyed
young O’Neil who discovered his life-long passion for rock and roll, especially the guitar playing and singing of rock icon Chuck Berry. O’Neil made it through high school and slogged through his college years, always finding himself on the social periphery.
Intelligent and good looking, O’Neil attracted the attention of young women. A stint in the Peace Corps was a revelation. Arriving in the African nation of Togo, where he was sent to a town with the ominous name “Death Is Better.” For the first time, O’Neil found comfort and confidence in social situations that had previously eluded him. Immersion in a totally different culture enabled him to bloom, a new and welome experience.
Never intending a career in law, O’Neil wound up as a paralegal at a Seattle firm, where he earned respect “on my own somewhat quirky terms.” O’Neil had an extraordinary capacity to sift through technical, mind-numbing stacks of dry data, where he could spot critical bits of minutiae that might be overlooked by someone more “neurotypical.” O’Neil attributed this skill to his “neurodiversity.”
Skipping law school, O’Neil took the exams and obtained his law degree as a “home-schooled lawyer” in the tradition of Lincoln. He has since written a splendid book that is a call for understanding and an appreciation for persons manifesting the unique and myriad dimensions of ASD, which, says O’Neil, “they make us richer.”
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