Being Autistic in Trump’s America
It was already hard to be Autistic in America, but since Trump took office, things have gotten even worse.
America has never been a great place to be Autistic, not that any country is great at supporting Autistic people. But in the two weeks since Trump took office, it has gotten worse and the next four years (hopefully just four) aren’t looking great.
Midway through Trump’s second work week, tragedy struck with the Washington DC plane crash on January 29th. Instead of rising to the occasion, Trump used the moment to attack people with disabilities despite having no evidence that this had anything to do with the crash.
“‘The FAA’s diversity push includes focus on hiring people with severe intellectual and psychiatric disabilities.’ That is amazing. And then it says FAA … says people with severe disabilities are most underrepresented segment of the workforce, [they] said, ‘They want them in, and they want them, they can be air traffic controllers.’ I don’t think so. This was January 14, so that was a week before I entered office. They put a big push to put diversity into the FAA’s program.” – Trump
Trump went on to say when asked if he would fire these people:
“I would say yes. If we find that people aren’t mentally competent … these are not people who should be doing these particular jobs.”
These attacks continue a long pattern of attacking people with disabilities by Trump and the MAGA movement. In 2016, before being elected President the first time, Trump mocked journalist Serge Kovaleski for being a person with a disability. In July 2024 it was reported that Trump’s nephew Fred C. Trump III said that Trump, while President, told him that people like Fred Trump’s son who is a person with a disability, should just die.
“Those people . . . ” Donald said, trailing off. “The shape they’re in, all the expenses, maybe those kinds of people should just die.”
And we saw some in the MAGA movement latching on to this trend of attacking people with disabilities and Neurodivergent people when they attacked Tim Walz’s Neurodivergent son, Guz Walz, in response to him being emotionally moved by seeing his dad on stage as the Vice Presidential candidate for the Democrats during the Democratic National Convention.
If you follow Autistic and Neurodivergent people online, these sorts of attacks are nothing new. And unfortunately, they also happen far too often in-person.
These attacks on people with disabilities and Neurodivergent people go beyond just words. Trump has already taken action in the form of an executive orders rolling back diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and accessibility efforts.
Trump and the MAGA movement’s disdain and attacks on DEI is already having a chilling effect across the country with DEI programs being shut down across the federal government, social media companies like Meta removing protections against hate speech for LGBTQ+ people, and a broad range of companies abandoning their DEI programs all together.
While Autistic people haven’t been called out directly in these recent anti-DEI executive orders and attacks against people with disabilities, it seems unlikely that we will get a pass given Trump’s past comments on Autistic people and the views on Autism of people he has nominated for positions in his administration like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
As reported by Eric Garcia with the Independent, many on the right including those nominated by Trump, have embraced anti-vaccine rhetoric regarding Autism. While anti-vaccine views aren’t held by all, there has been a disturbing embrace of anti-vaccine rhetoric and silence by others on this issue.
So, what should we expect as the Trump administration moves forward with their attacks against DEI and people with disabilities? The following are areas that I think attacks are likely to continue or increase. While some of these attacks aren’t guaranteed, given recent and past actions and comments, these are likely next steps for Trump, his administration, and his supporters in Congress.
Attacks Against Support Programs
Support programs for Autistic people are already lacking and many Autistic people are unable to get the support they need. The attacks on federal programs and DEI initiatives will make this worse.
As a sign of where we are likely heading, on January 27th Trump attempted to pause all federal grants and loans. This impacted student loan payments, grants for research, and grants to state and local governments and non-profits that serve local communities.
These programs include many that benefit low-income families, including housing assistance, SNAP, the National School Lunch Program and others.
While again not directly targeting Autistic people, many Autistic people rely on programs funded by the federal government.
The pause was made to ensure that these programs were in compliance with Trump’s executive orders targeting DEI, accessibility, immigration, and other areas. While the memo ordering the pause was rescinded and was challenged in the courts, the attacks on these programs are unlikely to stop.
An example of this are the proposals from congressional Republicans to pay for Trump’s tax cuts which would mostly benefit the rich and corporations. One proposal is to cut Medicaid, which is a health care program for people with low incomes. Another is to cut the child tax credit that helps parents support their kids. And finally, they are also proposing removal of the “head of the household” status that lowers the tax burden for single parents.
As with other attacks being made by Trump and his administration, these don’t directly target Autistic people. But since Autistic people are much more likely to be unemployed and have limited incomes, it is likely that many Autistic people would be hurt by these proposals.
And it is likely that we will see similar attacks against programs that Autistic people rely on at the state and local level as conservative led states mirror the actions of the Trump administration or these programs lose federal funding as anti-DEI and anti-accessibility policies are implemented.
Attacks Against Disability Hiring Programs
In the lead up to the presidential election and in Trump’s first two weeks of his 2nd term, DEI has become a regular punching bag for conservatives. Whenever a tragedy happens, conservatives are quick to blame DEI initiatives for it.
We can see this in the attacks against the LA fire chief, Kristin Crowley and more recently when Trump blamed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) DEI hiring programs for the Washington DC plane crash. In the latter case, Trump specifically targeted people with disabilities.
In the past, hiring programs for people with disabilities were seen positively by both Republicans and Democrats. But recently, we are seeing an increasing number of attacks against people with disabilities from Trump, the MAGA movement and Republicans.
There are specific protections that could be targeted by Trump and his administration. Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act forbids discrimination by federal agencies against people with disabilities.
It also requires that the federal workforce include at least 12% people with disabilities, and at least 2% be people with “targeted” disabilities.
While congress would need to act to change these requirements, as written by Civil Rights and Accessibility Lawyer Eve Hill, Trump and his administration could choose to stop its self-oversight, putting the burden of enforcement on individuals and organizations.
Congress would have to act to eliminate the nondiscrimination and affirmative action requirements. And the government would have to go through a rulemaking process (including publishing a proposed rule for public notice and comment) to change the hiring goal. But it could just stop its self-oversight, requiring individuals and organizations to take on the burden of enforcement. – Eve Hill
Given the limited resources that most Autistic people have, this is likely to be an unsurmountable burden.
Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits federal contractors from discriminating against individuals with disabilities in employment.
It also requires that federal contractors aim for 7% of their workforce to consist of people with disabilities.
This is another situation where Trump can’t single handedly change these requirements, but his administration could stop enforcing it which would again put the burden on individuals and organizations.
With the ongoing attacks against DEI or diversity hiring programs it is very likely that we will see new attacks against hiring programs that help Autistic people find employment. Given the already high level of unemployment that Autistic people face, these attacks could close some of the few options we have. Especially as we see state governments and corporations ending their DEI programs.
Attacks Against LGTBQ+ People, Immigrants, and Others
It is important to recognize that Autistic people are found across all racial groups. Anywhere you find people, you will find Autistic people. And transgender or nonbinary people are up to six times more likely to be Autistic compared to the general population.
There is no single cause of Autism. It isn’t caused by vaccines or anything else. Autism is simply part of the natural diversity of humanity and is mostly (70-80 percent and maybe as high as 95 percent) passed down genetically.
For as long as people have existed, there has been Autistic people. This also means that there are Autistic people in every society across the world.
Despite this, the voices of Autistic people of color, Autistic women, and Autistic LGTBQ+ people are often excluded from these discussions. It is already hard for Autistic people to be taken seriously and listened to when we share our concerns and needs, but for Autistic people who aren’t white or male, this is an even greater challenge.
All of this means that the hateful and frankly evil attacks against transgender people, immigrants, women, and others are also attacks against Autistic people.
All the attacks covered in the earlier sections of this article will hit LGTBQ+ people, immigrants, and others even harder. This is why the concept of intersectionality is so important. People aren’t just one thing. We are all a collection of identities that interact in complex ways. A black trans woman who is also Autistic has a very different experience than me as a white Autistic guy.
Because of this it is important that those who are not directly targeted by these attacks speak up and support those who are. If you care about Autistic people and our community, please make common cause with all the groups that are being attacked by Trump and his administration.
And it is also important to recognize that the attacks against immigrants, trans people, women and others won’t stop with them. As Adam Sewer with The Atlantic writes about the attacks against trans people -
The damage wrought by legitimizing this form of discrimination will not be limited to the trans community. Laws and legal rulings that undermine trans rights may soon be used to restrict the rights of other, less marginal groups. Anyone naive enough to think that the government can deny fundamental rights to one group without putting another’s at risk is in for some nasty surprises.
We are all in this together. The attacks against any marginalized group are an attack against all of us. If these attacks succeed and go unchallenged, we will see them escalate and expand.
Direct Attacks Against Autistic People
Autistic people are no strangers to being attacked by the organizations and people who are supposed to be supporting us. For decades the neurodiversity movement that grew in part from the actually Autistic community and other Neurodivergent people, has been pushing for equal rights, recognition and acceptance.
Autistic people have long been marginalized by the medical community and parents of Autistic people who have pursued the idea that we should be cured or prevented from existing. Due to the work of Neurodivergent self-advocates this has been slowly changing but a lot more is needed.
In 2016, Autism research spending in the United States totaled more than $364.4 million. Eighty percent of that money came from federal agencies and 20 percent from private organizations.
Only two percent of that spending went towards Autism lifespan issues and only five percent towards services for Autistic people according to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee.
The remaining 93 percent of the funding covered Screening and Diagnosis, Infrastructure and Surveillance, Treatments and Interventions, Risk Factors and Biology. Those last three accounted for 74.2 percent of all spending on Autism in the United States in 2016.
Most funding for Autism research was focused on treatments, risk factors, and biology. In other words, trying to understand why Autistic people exist and how to cure us. Very little is spent on actually supporting Autistic people.
With the nomination of people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (US Secretary of Health and Human Services) and Dave Weldon (Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention) who are anti-vaxxers the disproven idea that Autism is caused by vaccines will gain traction beyond what it already has.
This will likely result in the needs of Autistic people being ignored as even more funding goes towards the false idea that we can and should be cured.
Combined with the attacks against DEI and accessibility programs, Autistic people are likely to face a decline in the availability of support services and programs and a decline in the already limited amount of research aimed to help support actually Autistic people.
The attacks against DEI and accessibility are also resulting in an atmosphere of fear that is empowering people to harass and attack vulnerable people. Unfortunately, Autistic people have long experienced discrimination and attacks by people around us, but it is likely to get worse.
Federal employees that worked on DEI and accessibility, or even just attended DEI trainings (during the previous Trump presidency) are being put on leave and programs are being shut down. Companies like META are removing protections against hate speech against transgendered people and ending DEI programs.
And we are seeing an increasing number of people using the “r-word”. The disability rights movement campaigned to end the use of this word due to its history of being used to attack people with disabilities including Autistic people. But with the removal of protections on social media sites like X, we are seeing the return of the “r-word”.
All of this is likely to result in an increasing number of attacks against Autistic individuals and others both online and in-person.
What Can You Do? Balancing Advocacy while Dealing with Fear and Anxiety
I started writing this article on a Friday with the goal of publishing it the following Monday. Over those few days there were multiple new attacks on programs or institutions that impact Autistic people. And I already chose not to cover everything that was happening to try to keep the length down.
It’s a full-time job trying to keep up with everything that is happening.
And that is part of the strategy. Trump and his administration are trying to overwhelm any opposition they might face. They want you to be overwhelmed and demoralized so you can’t fight back.
One thing you can do to push back is to avoid getting dragged along by the day-to-day actions taken by Trump and his allies. This is why I’m switching to getting my news from sites and sources that provide weekly summaries of key events as opposed to getting overwhelmed daily.
You also need to prioritize taking care of yourself.
If you are stressed and overwhelmed, then you can’t act or respond in an effective way. This is especially true for any Autistic people reading this. Being Autistic already means you are dealing with a society that makes life challenging for you. This was true before Trump and will only get worse now.
One of the most important things you can do as an Autistic person right now is to make space for the things that bring you joy and help you get through the day.
For me that means making sure I go for a run at least three days a week, using my sensory gear to minimize sensory related stress, having alone time, and watching a lot of Star Trek. I’m also trying to prioritize getting out in nature and doing restoration work.
And even writing this article was in part a way for me to process everything that has happened in the last two weeks since Trump took office. Sitting down and writing this helped to get my thoughts organized and out of my head.
Every Autistic person is different. So, what works for me may not work for others. The main thing is to make sure to prioritize yourself, so you have the energy to respond when you face attacks against yourself or to support actions pushing back against Trump and his allies.
For non-autistic people and anyone in positions of power, please be our allies. That means listening to actually Autistic people and other marginalized people when we share our concerns. Don’t assume you know what we need. Stop, listen, and then take action to support us. The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network is a great organization to start learning more about how you can support Autistic people.
And please don’t pre-comply by making changes such as voluntarily ending DEI programs. We need you to be the bulwark against all these attacks against Autistic people and other marginalized groups.
Autistic people need your support. Being Autistic is not a tragedy. Much of what we deal with daily is caused by people not accepting us for who we are and trying to force us to fit into a neurotypical box. As stated in an editorial in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry titled “Break the stigma: autism” -
"It is not autism itself that leads to a poor quality of life, but instead, a lack of social support and acceptance."
There is a narrative going around that because of the results of the recent election, that all these attacks on DEI and accessibility and the marginalized people DEI programs support is the will of the American people.
I don’t believe that, and you shouldn’t either.
Trump only received 49.8% of the vote, and turnout was at 63.9%. And based on exit polls, people seemed to be voting more around economic concerns than wanting these attacks on DEI and accessibility. Even immigration was only considered a top concern for 11% of voters.
The point is the attacks against DEI and accessibility isn’t what most Americans want. We have a lot of potential allies out there. But many are too scared to speak up and far too many organizations and institutions are choosing to pre-comply rather than push back against these attacks.
If you are in a position of power, please be our ally, Autistic people and other marginalized groups need you to push back against these attacks.
And finally, if you are Autistic, please know you aren’t alone. Roughly 20% of people in the United States identify as Neurodivergent. When I have given workshops on being Autistic and neurodiversity to teams at my work, the numbers are similar ranging from 20 to 30%.
A good place to start is to look for spaces created by and for Neurodivergent and Autistic people online and in-person. While social media can be toxic, some sites like Bluesky (you can find me on there) seem to be better, at least for now.
These are scary times, and it is okay to be afraid. We will get through this by coming together and supporting each other. Start by connecting with like minded people in your local community. You can often make the biggest difference by organizing locally.
And make sure to build alliances with other groups of marginalized people. Migrants and transgender people are likely to face the brunt of these first attacks. Look for groups that support these communities and volunteer to help them. Only by standing together will we be able to stop these assaults on ourselves and our communities.
What to Expect from Autistic Nature
I’m hoping that this newsletter – Autistic Nature – can serve as a resource for Autistic people and others moving forward. Future articles will be mostly split between nature focused content and Autistic focused content. The nature ones will aim to help people reconnect with nature where they live, and the Autistic articles will focus on sharing resources with Autistic people and educating non-autistic people about Autism and neurodiversity in general.
Most will probably be shorter than this one and they won’t all be focused on American politics.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you will check out my future articles. Please consider sharing this and future articles with people you know.
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