Montgomery County family worries RFK Jr.'s press conference will confuse, raise fears about autism
Millions of autism families are anxiously focused on how Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will impact their lives, will his focus help or hurt?
Cat and Dan West, who live in Montgomery County, watched RFK Jr. with their 22-year-old son, Joey, who has autism.
"It's going to make things worse," Dan West, Joey's dad, said.
The Wests have four adult children, including three with autism.
"It has been very trying," Cat West said.
She said the kids have different symptoms and that getting them accurately diagnosed and treated was a challenge. Now, she wants to raise awareness.
"I think that people with autism are like people that don't have autism, they just have additional needs," Cat West said.
Getting services and support as early as possible is most important, according to this family, who takes issue with RFK Jr. blaming epidemic denial for what he calls a preventable disease.
"It's not a chronic disease or an infectious disease. It is a developmental condition," Dan West said. "The way you treat it is through support and therapies, and treatments."
They worry RFK Jr.'s agenda will end up causing confusion and fear, and potentially divert needed support services.
"I think he is going to upset a lot of families. I think he is going to scare people," Cat West said.
Her life has been filled with heartache and love. She said finding the cause of autism would be nice, along with understanding, compassion and less judgment.
In addition to autism, Joey has Down syndrome. His siblings are in college, and one will be going on to get a Ph.D., an example of the wide spectrum of symptoms for people with autism.
