“Autism doesn’t destroy families. It’s the ableism that does,” said Tyla Grant, who was diagnosed with autism at 17. She called Mr. Kennedy’s comments “fear-mongering” and said his “rhetoric flattens our existence into this outdated stereotype.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in full damage-control mode after causing outrage with his controversial comments about autism during his first official press briefing as health secretary. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic,