6/9/25 - Autism, Pride Month, and the next step in airline accessibility
It looks like autism has become yet another ground on which intense political, moral, and personal battles are being fought out – with little reference to actual autistic people.
Good afternoon!
Welcome to a new week. Here are your three disability-related links for this Monday ...
RFK Jr. is looking in the wrong place for autism’s cause
Dylan Scott, Vox.com - May 31, 2025
"Autism is a complex disorder with a range of manifestations that has long defied simple explanations, and it’s unlikely that we will ever identify a single “cause” of autism ... But scientists have learned a lot in the past 50 years, including identifying some of the most important risk factors. They are not, as Kennedy suggests, out in our environment. They are written into our genetics. What appeared to be a massive increase in autism was actually a byproduct of better screening and more awareness."
This article starts with a helpful summary of the history of how autism is defined and understood, and why it's mostly inaccurate to say that there has been an autism epidemic. But it's a bit more focused than I would like on prospects for finding some kind of preventative treatment for autism, which is increasingly viewed less as a disease or even a disorder – but as a comparatively rare, often difficult, but valid and valuable way of being. Still, the piece is worth reading and helps explain why RFK Jr.'s new autism initiative is so wrongheaded.
These days it's tempting to say that the entire debate over autism has been politicized. RFK Jr.'s presence in such a powerful position makes that a pretty reasonable conclusion. But I'm starting to think that views on autism depend not just on political ideology, but on personal grievances and moral worldviews. RFK Jr. has for a long time believed deeply that modern society tolerates far too much pollution and environmental toxins, and he's angry about it. So he is naturally attracted to the unfounded but seductive idea that autism is caused by environmental factors and policies like mandated vaccinations. This also provides the extra satisfaction of being able to blame autism on something – on people and on institutions. There is a clear villain to fight, and that can be kind of a relief to people who are distraught by autism. Likewise, advocates for those with "profound autism" believe they and their particular kind of autism have been neglected in recent years. For them, autism is a zero-sum game of attention, which draws them towards more tragic and melodramatic thinking about autism. Any other interpretation of autism is, for them, an attack and an insult. It's personal.
It looks like autism has become yet another ground on which intense political, moral, and personal battles are being fought out – with relatively little reference to actual people with actual autism.
Going off script
Celestine Frasier, Disability Debrief - June 4, 2025
"Research confirms there are disproportionate rates of disability among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual people. Meanwhile, anecdotal reports suggest that being disabled might make it more likely for people to accept or embrace that they are LGBTQ+."
It's hard for me as a straight disabled man to know how to acknowledge and understand Pride Month. Writing like this on the overlaps and interconnections between disability and sexuality helps a lot. At the very least, I can relate to feeling like my body and personality are intrusively evaluated and policed by others, especially when I was a child and a teenager. That's something LGBTQ+ people with and without disabilities also experience.
Next-Generation Aisle Chair is Ready for the Skies
John Morris, Wheelchair Travel - June 5, 2025
"At the Aircraft Interiors Expo earlier this year, I tested one product that stands out for its thoughtful engineering and regulatory foresight: Airchair II. This next-generation onboard wheelchair is more than just an aisle chair — it is a solution designed to improve the in-air experience of disabled passengers, while meeting the new regulatory standards for aisle chair safety that were codified in 2023. When I sat on and tested Airchair II at AIX, it became clear that the expanded regulations do improve the utility and safety of aisle chairs, and that Airchair II has mastered the implementation of the new mandatory features."
Note: This article is actually a paid advertisement for the Airchair II.
I have neither the expertise nor the personal experience with wheelchair air travel to judge how reliable or objective this review is. This new aircraft wheelchair design certainly sounds like progress. Either way, it's encouraging that companies are working on products that could make air travel more accessible. And it's important to remember that this effort is to a great extent prompted by recently adopted federal regulations that are due to take effect in 2026. Let's hope these new airline accessibility measures aren't rolled back in the Trump administration's anti-regulation campaign.
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