RFK Jr. said his agency will find the cause of autism. These researchers have actually been looking

The annual meeting of the International Society for Autism Research took place in Seattle this week. The field's premiere scientific conference was scheduled to be held in the Emerald City five years ago, until COVID-19 dashed those plans. This time, U.S. autism researchers face a very different kind of crisis: massive cuts to federal funding, Cabinet members making false statements about the complex neurological condition they study, and a series of confusing and potentially worrisome policy announcements about autism research. In April, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services disclosed that it's planning a 50-million "comprehensive research effort aimed at understanding the causes of [autism spectrum disorder] and improving treatments," a department spokesperson said. The effort was spurred by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s stated goal of determining the cause of autism, a neurological and developmental condition whose symptoms cluster around challenges with communication, social interaction and sensory processing.