Washington DC - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went full conspiracy theorist on Wednesday, falsely claiming that autism is a "preventable disease" caused by mysterious toxins in the environment.

RFK Jr. railed in a press conference about an "epidemic" of autism in the US and announced plans to focus HHS funding on environmental factors that he thinks are causing the condition.

"Autism destroys families," RFK Jr. claimed. "It destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be suffering like this."

The Health and Human Services secretary called autism an "individual tragedy."

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"These are kids who many of them were fully functional and regressed due to some environmental exposure," he claimed.

This claim is based on little evidence and directly contradicts a recent study on autism from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which argued that recent increases in diagnoses are due to better access to health services, not environmental factors.

RFK Jr. did make reference to the new study, but miscommunicated its findings, claiming that increased diagnoses are "catastrophic" for the US and the result of some unspecified "environmental toxin" in the air, water, food, or medicine.

During the press conference, RFK Jr. repeatedly made misinformed statements which reinforced outdated stereotypes that those with autism are outcasts in society and will never amount to anything.

"These are kids of who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date, many of them will never use a toilet unassisted," he said.

RFK Jr.'s comments did not go down well with researchers and the autism community.

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"Claiming that Autism is 'preventable' is not science based, and places unnecessary blame on people, parents, and families," the Autism Society said in a long statement responding to both the report and the HHS' plans.

"Autism is not a chronic disease, nor is it a childhood disease – it is a lifelong developmental condition," the statement read.

"It is not an epidemic, nor should it be compared to the Covid-19 pandemic, and using language like that perpetuates falsehoods, stigma, and stereotypes."