Perspectives on Autism's Rise

Perspectives on the Rise of Autism

The epidemic rise of Autism demands conversation. We need to stop its rise...find the cause and overcome its effects. There are many voices, many perspectives. Everyone can see that the condition impacts mental health for the autistic but also the care-givers. The following statement is one of the most logical I've seen -- and one that points to the need for a clearer scientific evaluation. Please leave your thoughts in the comment box below. Let's peacefully share perspectives.

IMHU does not take a position other than the desire to encourage discussion on important health-related topics using the best of scientific research. -- Emma Bragdon, PhD.

My Opening Statement to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

September 9, 2025

Toby Rogers, PhD.

Good afternoon Chairman Johnson, Ranking Member Blumenthal, and members of the Permanent Subcommittee:

On July 4, 2015, my then-partner’s son was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. I was in a Ph.D. program in Political Economy at the University of Sydney where I had access to almost all current scientific and medical journals. I wanted to better understand what was happening so I went to the CDC’s webpage on the causes of autism.

To my surprise, I quickly discovered that the CDC’s narrative did not add up. Claims that autism is genetic don’t make sense because autism prevalence was rising too fast — there’s no such thing as a genetic epidemic.

Here are the facts:

In 1970, the first autism prevalence study in the U.S. found an autism rate of less than 1 in 10,000 children. According to a study by the EPA, sometime around 1987, the autism rate in the U.S. began to skyrocket. The most recent report from the CDC showed that 1 in 31 eight-year-old children in the U.S. in 2022 were on the autism spectrum.

That’s a 32,158% increase in the last 52 years. Two massive studies from the best epidemiologists in California show that changes in diagnostic criteria only explain a small fraction of the rise in autism prevalence.

The critical missing piece in autism research is vaccinated vs. unvaccinated studies.

Thankfully there are now six good studies that we can rely on. Unfortunately, these studies have been systematically suppressed and ignored by the mainstream media and the medical establishment.

After conducting this systematic review of 1,000 studies my belief is that the autism and chronic disease epidemics are primarily caused by toxicants — mostly from vaccines and about a dozen additional toxicants. If we stop exposing children to these hazards in the first place that would stop the epidemics of chronic illness in children. Now we must summon the political will to act. Thank you.