My family isn’t sick: Behind Trump’s dangerous attack on neurodivergent Americans

26 February

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a rally, in Henderson, Nevada, U.S. October 31, 2024.

President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on chronic disease and mental health is dangerous: It groups autism and ADHD — natural, genetic neurotypes — alongside chronic diseases. This is not just inaccurate, it is harmful to millions of neurodivergent Americans fighting for acceptance and equal rights.

Autism and ADHD are not diseases. They are not illnesses. They are not a “health crisis.” They are neurodevelopmental variations, passed down through families — just like eye color.

I am neurodivergent. So is my child, my mother, my sister and my nephew. We are not sick. We do not need curing. What we need is recognition, support, and a society that doesn’t try to erase us.

This harmful framing isn’t just offensive — it’s a strategic attack on disabled people, targeting our children first.

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Stripping away protections

For years, I have fought to get my daughter the support she needs in school. She is too smart to be recognized for her disabilities, yet too disabled to fit into the school environment. The system refuses to acknowledge that neurodivergent children struggle in ways that aren’t immediately visible — and now, they are making it even harder.

While Trump calls neurodivergence a “health crisis,” Republican-led states are suing to strip away protections for disabled children. Multiple states want to eliminate Section 504 protections, which ensure that kids with disabilities have rights to accommodations in school

And it doesn’t stop there. Trump’s hand-picked Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has a long history of spreading misinformation about autism and ADHD. He falsely claimed vaccines cause autism — a claim that’s been widely debunked for many years — and referred to the rise in autism diagnoses as a “holocaust.”

Now, this same man is leading federal health policy.

Follow the money

Let’s be honest: They simply don’t want to spend money on kids like mine.

Those 504 plans and disability protections cost money, and rather than ensuring public schools provide equitable access, states are diverting those funds elsewhere.

In Arizona, former Gov. Doug Ducey’s universal school voucher program allowed public funds to be used for private schooling. Marketed as a way to help struggling students, wealthy families benefited the most — with 10 times more voucher users in the wealthiest ZIP codes than in lower-income areas.

This is about funding education for the privileged while gutting public schools.

Mask, hide or be punished

I was diagnosed young. Instead of being encouraged to embrace who I was, I learned to suppress my natural instincts, reactions and behaviors.

For years, I played the part. The world received me more kindly when I wasn’t being myself.

It wasn’t until recently that I started to undo the years of conditioning that told me my natural way of existing wasn’t acceptable. For the first time in my life, I feel authentically me.

I am happier now, even though the world doesn’t always accept me the way it did before. And I refuse to let my daughter grow up believing she has to do the same.

But this executive order? The lawsuits against 504 plans? The diversion of public funds to private schools?

They are telling our children exactly that: Mask. Hide. Fit in. Or be punished.

What we actually need

If the administration truly wants to address health disparities, it should support neurodivergent individuals, not pathologize us. That means:

Protecting 504 plans and disability rightsReforming education to stop punishing neurodivergent kids for being themselvesIncreasing access to neuro-affirming healthcareAcknowledging that neurodivergence is not a crisis

The government can cling to outdated, ableist narratives or listen to the millions of neurodivergent individuals saying:

We are not a disease. We are not a crisis. We have always been here, and we are not going anywhere.

We demand a retraction of this harmful framing, recognition that neurodivergence is part of human diversity, and real action — not to “fix” us, but to create an environment where we can thrive.

We will not stand by while our rights — and our children’s rights — are taken away. It’s time to push back.

Loudly. Relentlessly. Neurodivergent voices will not be silenced.

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Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com.

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