Ian Lasch is an autistic Episcopal priest. He is currently studying for his PhD through the University of Aberdeen's Centre for Autism and Theology, and his dissertation is on autism and the imago Dei. He is married to Loren, also an Episcopal priest, and father to two neurodivergent children.
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Why RFK Jr. Doesn't See the Image of God In Autistic People
Robert F. Kennedy JR, President-Elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, is seen in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington DC, as he meets with Senators on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Sipa USA)
On Wednesday of Holy Week, while most Christians were preparing to proclaim the Resurrection of Christ, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a proclamation of a different kind: “Autism destroys families.” He went on to say that autistic children “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 … ”
These remarks framing autism as an epidemic or tragedy were not simply a one-off. They are both part of and an escalation in the broader Trump administration position that accessibility — the “A” in DEIA — is a problem to be eliminated, a mindset that results in policies that are at least unfriendly, if not actively hostile, to disabled people like me.