Press Room

The National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA) works with journalists and media professionals to advance public understanding of severe autism and advocate for evidence-based policy solutions. Our leadership and experts are available to provide insights on severe autism, policy initiatives, and the challenges facing affected individuals and their families.

Media Contact

Mark Kendall
Public Relations
press@ncsautism.net

For immediate inquiries, contact NCSA at (408) 690-6094

 

As Seen In

 
 

Recent Media

 

Press Releases & Statements

Jill Escher, NCSA president, on the science of Tylenol and autism (ABC7 News, Sept. 23, 2025)

  • Searching for the Truth About Autism
    July 9, 2025

    Jill Escher: “Dr. Frances suggests that prevalence cannot be rising because vaccines do not cause autism. While we may agree on vaccination, his argument ducks the obvious point that other, yet undiscovered factors may be raising risk for this serious neurodevelopmental disorder. It’s our urgent moral imperative to identify them.”

  • Federal rules defining ‘community living’ too often prevent exactly that
    (July 7, 2025)

    Mark Kendall: "Implementation of the Settings Rule today is guided by an unwavering belief that everyone should be living in a house or apartment in a residential neighborhood. This social engineering often runs up against real life. There’s no guarantee that living in a single-family home will lead to a neighbors-showing-up-with-apple-pie sense of community particularly if, like our children, a resident needs a high level of support to engage with others."

  • One Nashville Family’s Struggle with Autism — and the Breakthrough That Politics Could Stop Cold
    (July 1, 2025)

    NCSA VP Amy Lutz and NCSA ED Jackie Kancir discuss ECT, catatonia, and concerns over Medicaid and NIH cuts.

  • Trump Administration Shuts Out Advocates, Researchers In Probe Targeting Autism
    (May 1, 2025)

    One exception is the National Council on Severe Autism. Representatives from the group were unexpectedly part of a small meet-and-greet with Kennedy tied to World Autism Awareness Day last month.

    “We thought we had a small meeting (with) staff to discuss Medicaid for severe autism, but it somehow morphed into (the meet-and-greet),” said Jill Escher, the group’s president, who indicated that she didn’t know most of the other attendees.

    Kennedy has emphasized the challenges faced by people on the more severe end of the spectrum in speaking out about what what he calls the “autism epidemic.”

  • RFK Jr.’s policitcally explosive search for autism’s ‘root cause’
    (May 1, 2025)

    “America has a big problem, and we have to face up to it,” said one of them, Jill Escher, president of the National Council on Severe Autism.

    Her organization also took issue with those, like the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund and experts quoted in a New York Times op-ed, who said they thought Kennedy’s research plan was rooted in eugenics — the idea that science could be harnessed to prevent autistic people from being born. In a statement, the National Council on Severe Autism said it “categorically” rejected the claim.

  • Autism community advocate reacts to RFK Jr. autism announcement
    (Apr 28, 2025)

    NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Jill Escher, president of the National Council on Severe Autism, about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's remarks this month on autism.

  • What RFK Jr. Gets Right—and Wrong—About Autism (April 23, 2025)
    Jill Escher

    A comprehensive analysis of the HHS Secretary's autism press conference that critically examines the rising prevalence of severe autism, challenging both dismissive narratives and oversimplified explanations of the disorder's origins.

    “While Kennedy’s words understandably ruffled feathers, they reflected at least partial reality for a great many, including my own two adult children. Insisting on research to find risk factors can hardly be considered a eugenicist mission.”

  • I Have a Child With Severe Autism. RFK Jr. Gets One Thing Right About It (April 23, 2025)
    Mark Kendall

    A parent's perspective challenges both anti-vaccine rhetoric and those who minimize the profound challenges faced by individuals with severe autism and their families.

    "While I find Robert F. Kennedy's anti-vaccine views deeply troubling, I see just as much danger from those who ignore the existence of severe autism."

  • RFK Was Right: Severe Autism Can Be Devastating (April 22, 2025)
    Amy S.F. Lutz

    A powerful critique of the neurodiversity movement's response to RFK Jr.'s comments, challenging the erasure of profound autism's most challenging realities while advocating for nuanced understanding of the autism spectrum.

    “If it had been me at the podium the reporters would have gotten an earful about traumatic brain injury and blindness from self-injury; seizures, insomnia, and constipation; emergency surgery from pica (the compulsion to eat inedible objects); drownings following elopement; parents who live in a near-constant state of crisis. Baseball? Poetry? Not even on the wish list.”

  • Adults with Disabilities Deserve to Work (February 26, 2025)
    Jill Escher

    “We have entered a two-tier era where federally funded disability rights groups focus on full inclusion for those with relatively mild disabilities, while engaging in a willful blindness about the needs of those who are severely impacted, who don’t fit that narrative.”

  • Don't Forget Americans with Severe Autism (February 2, 2025)
    Mark Kendall

    A direct response challenging the oversimplification of autism in public discourse highlights how casual references to autism spectrum conditions can minimize severe autism's profound challenges.

    “Too many people with severe or profound autism, and their families, face isolation and societal invisibility.”

  • The World Tonight
    (November 22, 2024)
    Jill Escher

    A discussion of the rising rates of autism and the desperate need to find causes, treatments and long-term care solutions.

  • On Balance with Leland Vittert (November 19, 2024)
    Jill Escher

    A discussion on the "greatest medical mystery of our time."

    "Kennedy and the president-elect are asking why more kids like mine are disabled by autism. They have the power to find real answers — and it’s not due to vaccines."

  • What New Autism Findings Tell Us—and What They Don't (November 1, 2024)
    Amy S.F. Lutz

    A critical analysis of new JAMA findings reveals significant increases in autism prevalence with particular focus on implications for individuals with severe autism.

    “That autism prevalence has been steadily increasing is not controversial, and it is not news. Hotly contested, however, is why.”

  • Achieving Equity For All People With Autism
    (Apr 22, 2024) - Jackie Kancir

    Policy analysis exposing how over a quarter of the autism community has been systematically excluded from research and policy decisions, with recommendations for achieving true equity in autism support and services.

    “Guided by the authoritative voices of people with autism, this heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder with its rich medical history, albeit at its worst times dark, steered society to reject medical science and accept the propaganda of the emerging social model. If we believe that, we can all forego our academic journal fees and get all we need to know about this “little different identity” for free on social media like TikTok now instead.”

 

April 22, 2025

With autism rates now affecting 1 in 31 children—a nearly 500% increase since 2000—we must acknowledge this as the epidemic it is while maintaining scientific rigor in our search for answers.
(Read More Here)

 

About NCSA

NCSA is a nonprofit organization that pursues recognition, policy and solutions for the surging population of individuals, families and caregivers affected by severe forms of autism and related disorders. Position statements, policy solutions and an FAQ can be found at NCSAutism.org.

 

Authentic Awareness Videos

In this heartfelt video, Jane Kleiman courageously shares her authentic story of caring for her 23-year-old son, Jackson, who faces severe autism with anxiety and behavioral challenges. Jane discusses the struggles their family experiences with inadequate support systems and emphasizes the urgent need for better-trained professionals and accountability within programs. Her plea highlights the impact of these challenges on Jackson's well-being, their family's daily life, and their concerns for Jackson's future.

“We need people who are trained, who have BCBA support behind them, and who get paid what they deserve and what this job entails.” — Jane Kleiman

Parent caregiver Valerie Herskowitz highlights the multigenerational impact and the complex considerations needed to secure appropriate long-term housing for her adult son with severe autism.

“I just don’t want a life where his brother is going to have to do all that and then not be able to live his own life in some way.” — Valerie Herskowitz

Parent caregiver Debra Rich makes a plea for more programs that are accepting of individuals with profound autism who require 1-to-1 support, as well as the necessity for remote/flexible vocational options for family caregivers.

“I’m very fortunate my employer is very flexible with me. I feel very blessed that at least I have a job and I can get a little bit of work done. Between my full-time job and full-time caregiving, which I’m not paid for, that adds up to a lot of hours. So it can be very exhausting, and self-care can be very hard.”— Debra Rich

Jodi Hansen, mother of a 26-year-old profoundly autistic son, shares her lived experience while making a plea for multidisciplinary care access across the United States.

“The ideal change and the biggest change and something I dream big about is that every state would have a multidisciplinary clinic or hospital for our kids. Our kids are human beings. They deserve a neurologist, immunologist, rheumatologist, etc. They need to have a team of doctors. Just like we need a village to raise them, we need a system in the medical system that works.”— Jodi Hansen

Mother Michelle Olson shares her lived experiences with severe autism, raising important concerns for medical access, healthcare equity, and family trauma for this marginalized population.

“What I wish people knew more about people who have severe autism is time is of the essence. So once you start seeing an escalation in behavior, that’s a form of communication. And so you’re supposed to listen.”— Michelle Olson

Mother Tammy Snyder and siblings Grace & Juliet share their lived experiences with severe autism, raising important concerns for medical access, crisis care, and more.

“They just give him to my mom and just expect her to figure it out. If they can’t figure it out, how can she? It just doesn’t make any sense.” — Grace Snyder