How to Address the Autism Epidemic
Two Key Targets: Childhood Hyper-Vaccination and Toxic Pesticide Exposure
A few days ago, President Trump delivered the following remarks:
You know, we have one stat that I quote, the autism stat … if you go back 15 years ago, we had like nobody. It was 1 in 20,000. Now we have 1 in 34 … So 34 or 36 kids have autism. And if you go back … 18 years, whenever that was done, it was 1 in 20,000.
So we got from 20,000 to 34-36. That's unbelievable. So there's something wrong …We've done something wrong. There's something you're going to figure it out.
Maybe it's a spray that we spray all over the place that nobody else does — Other countries don't. The Pennsylvania Dutch [Amish], they don't do anything. And they're amazingly healthy.
President Trump is correct — the CDC estimates that 2.78% of children and 2.21% of adults have autism in America.
A 2010 study titled Prevalence Rates of Autism Spectrum Disorders Among the Old Order Amish estimated that ASD affected approximately 1 in 271 children in the Amish community. This is significantly lower than the CDC’s 2010 estimate for the general U.S. population, which was 1 in 68 children. Why do Amish children fare better than others? And why is the autism rate in America continuing to skyrocket with no end in sight? We now have abundant evidence that the following factors should be key targets in addressing the autism epidemic:
TARGET #1 - Childhood Hyper-Vaccination
As of 2025, the CDC recommends that children receive up to 32 doses by age 2. This represents a massive increase in recommended vaccine doses since the inception of the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act giving vaccine makers full liability protection:
Since they enjoy full liability protection, pharmaceutical companies currently get their injections approved with no long-term, placebo-controlled trials:
We recently observed that autism rates have skyrocketed alongside the ever-expanding inadequately tested childhood vaccination schedules:
This corroborates at least 4 peer-reviewed studies demonstrating a strong association between childhood vaccination and autism:
DeLong (2011) – State-Level Analysis
1%↑ vaccination → 1.7%↑ autism prevalence (680 additional cases, p < 0.01)
Mawson et al. (2017) – n = 666
OR 4.2 (320%↑ autism risk, p = 0.013)
Hooker & Miller (2021) – n = 1,565
OR 5.03 (403%↑ autism risk, p = 0.0048)
Mawson & Jacob (2025) – n = 47,155
OR 2.7 (170%↑ autism risk, p < 0.0001), RR 4.4 (340%↑ for 11+ vaccine visits, p < 0.0001)
TARGET #2 - Pesticides
As President Trump stated, “Maybe it's a spray that we spray all over the place.”
The FDA 2020 Pesticide Residue Monitoring Report “tested for approximately 750 different pesticides and selected industrial compounds on 2,078 human food samples (316 domestic and 1,762 import samples) in its regulatory monitoring program.” Nearly 60% of all domestic foods contained herbicide and pesticide residue, with 3.2% violating federal standards. 11.6% of all imported foods violated federal standards for pesticide residues:
Since 1990, autism rates have skyrocketed along with pesticide use:
A 21-year case-control study by Roman et al found a 34% rise in ASD prevalence rate in regions with elevated pesticide use compared to regions with low use [OR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.24–1.44].
Pu et al found that the exposure to high levels (0.098%) glyphosate during pregnancy and lactation caused ASD-like behaviors in male juvenile offspring (mice).
A meta-analysis by Xu et al included 19 studies and found maternal pesticide exposure was associated with a 19% increased risk of ASD in offspring [pooled OR = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.04-1.36].:
These data suggest that restructuring the CDC's childhood hyper-vaccination schedule and drastically limiting toxic pesticide use should be two priority targets in addressing the autism epidemic. A comprehensive, science-driven investigation into these factors is urgently needed to protect future generations.
Epidemiologist and Foundation Administrator, McCullough Foundation
www.mcculloughfnd.org
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One of the ways to address the autism epidemic is to start calling it what it actually is, vaccine encephalopathy.
One in 271 Amish kids with autism is hyperbole. The real figure would be closer to I in 10,000 as it was for all children pre vaccine quackery. I have read several times that there is no autism among the Amish except for an adopted child that was previously vaccinated.