Many have criticized U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in recent weeks for making sweeping claims about the cause and prevalence of autism and the United States.

At a news conference last week, Kennedy called autism “an epidemic” due to rising diagnosis rates, attributing the rise to “an environmental exposure.” He also called autism “a preventable disease,” promising to launch studies to find out what “caused the autism epidemic” and “eliminate those exposures” by September.

While it’s true that autism rates are on the rise, health experts say the increase is much more likely due to better screenings and higher diagnosis rates in recent years. The definition of autism has also broadened to include a variety of neurodivergent conditions, known as Autism Spectrum Disorders. 

“Autism destroys families,” Kennedy said. “More importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be suffering like this.”

Kennedy’s broad claims mirror a larger problem: There are persistent misconceptions about autism that affect autistic people and the way the world interacts with them. 

To discuss all of this, Autism Alliance of Michigan President and CEO Colleen Allen joined The Metro. She also founded the Henry Ford Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

–WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

More stories from The Metro on Wednesday, April 23:

• How children’s education impacts parental dementia risk
• Detroit Fashion Revolution Week aims to reshape industry toward sustainability
• What’s behind Dearborn’s drastic drop in fatal overdoses?
• How Community Violence Intervention programs stop harm before it happens

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro

The National Poll on Healthy Aging has released new data regarding how climate change and extreme weather impact health for adults 50 and up.

Sue Ann Bell, associate professor of nursing at the University of Michigan, says she hopes the poll encourages older adults, health care providers and people who work in emergency response and government to prepare to care for older adults during emergencies. 

“To prioritize extreme weather events and extreme weather event planning, because I think one thing we see so often is that we go for a period of time without a disaster happening. And you know, so you have sort of a false sense of confidence that can lead to being less prepared.”

The poll asked older adults about their experiences with extreme weather events and their concerns about how extreme weather events might impact their health, both now and in the future. 

The survey found that 75% of people who’ve lived through an extreme weather event said they were very concerned about the impacts of these events on their own health, and that’s compared to around 33% of older adults in Michigan who had not experienced an extreme weather event. 

Read the full report here.

More headlines for Monday, April 14, 2025:

• The Michigan Attorney General’s office has launched a new form for residents to report social security benefit disruptions and share their experiences.
• The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is recommending that U.S. citizens be vigilant when traveling internationally, as Customs and Border Protection may want to search the electronic devices of some people coming back in the U.S.
• The city of Detroit is accepting requests from residents for tree plantings in their neighborhoods to help improve the city’s tree canopy.
• A documentary focused on pro-Palestine encampments at universities across the U.S. has come to Detroit. Screenings of “The Encampments“ will be held daily at the Bel Air Luxury Cinema, 10100 8 Mile Rd., Detroit through April 17.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

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They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that beauty is more than skin deep. Your presentation, build, attire and demeanor shapes how others perceive who you are and what you care about. 

The people we surround ourselves with influence our taste which forms our opinion on what we deem as cool or beautiful. The media we consume is powerful too; the mind is a really powerful thing. It encourages us to change the way we look to fit the latest fashion and beauty trends. 

Two guests joined The Metro on Thursday to help us better understand the pressure of America’s beauty standards and their effect on women.

Rokeshia Ashley is a professor of health communication at Florida International University and a researcher focusing on body image, body modification and maternal health.

Dr. Alexandra Sowa is an obesity and internal medicine physician and the author of the book, “The Ozempic Revolution.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More stories from The Metro on Thursday, April 10:

• Celebrate Earth Day with events, activities at Detroit parks
• Navigating an uncertain stock market
• Ryan Patrick Hooper talks Record Store Day, WDET member drawing

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Think about the last place you were in public. It could have been the grocery store, on the bus, or in the waiting room at the dentist.

If you did manage to strike up a conversation with a stranger, how did it make you feel? While it might be uncomfortable, it turns out there are benefits to connecting with strangers, people you may not know. 

There is mounting research that suggests that having real-life interactions with other people is good for our health and happiness. In 2023, former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory warning that isolation poses a health risk equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Today on The Metro, we’re talking to some experts and getting to know some strangers on the phones. 

Guests: 

• Kayla Perry: Marketing and communications manager at the Detroit Area Agency on Aging. She joined us to talk about the importance of in-person conversation and community for seniors. 
• Nick Epley: He’s a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Epley has authored numerous articles on the ways we interact with each other and he co-authored an influential study on talking to strangers that produced interesting results.

We also asked listeners:

“Are you one of those people who seeks out conversations with strangers? Or do you avoid them?”

Joe in Rochester Hills says when he talks to strangers, “You get a smiley face, you get a happy look almost always.”

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

More stories from The Metro on March 27, 2025: 

• President Donald Trump announced this week that he will place 25% tariffs on auto imports — including autos coming from Canada. WDET’s All Things Considered host and Senior News Editor Russ McNamara crossed the border into Canada to find out how Windsorites are reacting to tariffs and Trump’s idea of annexing our northern neighbor.

• A new exhibition at Detroit boutique Coup D’état is honoring the life and work of photographer Bill Rauhauser, known as “the dean of Detroit photography.” Coup D’état Owner Angela Wisniewski-Cobbina joined The Metro to discuss the exhibit, held in partnership with Hill Gallery in Birmingham.

• The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) has approved a rate hike for Consumers Energy, allowing the utility to collect an additional $154 million in revenue. State regulators already approved rate hikes for both DTE and Consumers Energy in the past year. Metro Producer Cary Junior II spoke to Michigan Public Service Commission member Katherine Peretick to better understand how the commission decides to sign off on price hikes.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.