Autism, the Brain, and Creationism

Studies of autism illustrate
the difficulties of achieving
scientific consensus

by Jerry Bergman, PhD

In the news lately there has been much controversy on the cause of autism,
mostly involving Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Autism is clinically regarded as a spectrum disorder, meaning it refers to a group of conditions characterized by difficulties in social functioning related to verbal and nonverbal communication.[1] Some autistic persons are non-speaking, while others are proficient in several spoken languages. Yet others, sometimes referred to as idiot geniuses or autistic savants, have some rare ability such as the ability to do complex math calculations in their head, illustrating the creation concept of over-design.[2]

An anatomy student I had when I was teaching at the college level was at the non-speaking end of the spectrum. When I talked to him in class, he never once answered or responded in any way. Three of my exams were oral and I had no idea what to do in his case. When his turn came for the exam, he amazed me. He scored a perfect 100 percent, rapidly verbalizing the sternum, humerus, ulna, radius, metacarpal, patella, femur, clavicle, scapula, etc., until he named and located all 206 bones by correctly pointing to where they were on the life-sized, plastic model skeleton in the anatomy lab. He never did say a word to me before or after the two other oral exams. His only verbalizing was during oral exams which he easily aced.

Autistic Behaviors

Autistic people also often display compulsive repetitive behaviors, including stereotyped or repetitive movements, manipulation of objects in their hands, inflexible adherence to routines, and ritualized behavioral patterns.[3] Also common are fixated interests, hyper- or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual awareness, and interests in certain sensory aspects of the environment. They are abnormally sensitive to sounds that most of us tune out; noises such as the refrigerator compressor turning on may greatly bother them. Some autistic persons avoid eye contact or have difficulty maintaining eye contact during conversations. They often struggle to understand their own emotions and/or those of others, leading to emotional dysregulation and difficulty with social interactions.

Autistic persons are also more likely to have chronic gastrointestinal issues which they deal with by vegetarian or other special diets. Many have microphobia (an abnormal fear of germs) causing them to spend a great deal of time cleaning. They are often very naïve in trusting others, yet some are agoraphobic and, therefore, must shop during odd hours when few people are in the store. Like many individuals with intellectual disabilities, they are often vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Thus the expression, “they will give you the shirt off their back,” often describes them. This is part of their general inability to comprehend and share the feelings of others. Then again, we—regardless of our neurotype—all need (and crave) understanding and acceptance.

My Autistic Genius Student

Another autistic student of mine spent most of his time pacing back and forth in the back of my biochemistry class. He often missed my class, but would take exams on four chapters at a time during my office hours, easily passing all of them. I asked another instructor who taught calculus about him, and he noted his behavior was similar in his class. When I asked him why he did so well in calculus without attending class, he told me he was a math genius and ignored studying because he could usually figure out the correct answers when taking the exam.

This mixed autistic/genius ability is more common than most people realize. It includes high-functioning superstars like Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk.[4] The low-vs-high-order function difference is often ignored.[5] Understanding the cause of autism may help to nurture more high-functioning, autistic individuals.[6] A few more Albert Einsteins, Bill Gateses, and Elon Musks would be expected to add a great deal to the nation. I have personally found this population very rewarding to work with.

The Increase in Diagnosing Autism

The rate of autism diagnoses has increased dramatically over the past two decades. In the United States, they have increased especially significantly since 2000, intensifying public concern. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of March 2023, the rate is 1 in 36 children, or 2.77%, up from 0.66% in 2000. Although we now have better diagnostics and increased awareness of the problem, this does not fully account for the rapid increase of autistic children seen in the last few years. It is also diagnosed four times more often in males than females.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has argued that the rise in autism is related to routine childhood vaccines that he thinks causes the autistic developmental disability. The scientific consensus is that autism is a complex condition with a mix of genetic and environmental factors not linked to vaccines. The “experts” attribute the rising rates to increased awareness, better diagnostic tools, and broader definitions of autism. The problem is the scientific consensus may not be correct. For instance, when it comes to the scientific consensus concerning evolution, creationists believe that claims of clear scientific evidence in favor of the case for evolution is seriously problematic.

The critics of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., respond, often very dogmatically, that their case is correct and therefore there is no point to look further into the question. An example is the autism website that claims

There is no connection between vaccines and autism. Autism is often diagnosed around the same time children receive routine vaccinations, which has led to concerns about a connection—but decades of scientific research have confirmed that vaccines do not cause autism. In fact, vaccines play a crucial role in protecting children from serious diseases like measles.[7]

This conclusion may be true, or it may not be fully accurate. Kennedy plans to carry out several detailed studies to either support his theory or debunk his theory. Specifically, “The nation’s top health agency will undertake a ‘massive testing and research effort’ to determine the cause of autism, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., announced Thursday [April 10, 2025].”[8]

Some Conclusions

The debate between Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the orthodox scientists is, at its core, a debate about how the brain works– a topic scientists have been trying to solve since before Christ’s sojourn on Earth. I am confident that Kennedy’s research will find some facts that will contribute to human knowledge of the brain and deepen our understanding of its complexity. I expect that the main problem for both Kennedy and the so-called experts is, at its heart, that autism cannot be fully understood until the human brain is better understood. The fact is, this is a challenge as explained by University of Southampton psychology professor Nicholas J. Kelley, that

The brain is the most complicated object in the universe. It contains more than 89 billion neurons, each connected to around 7,000 other neurons that send between ten and 100 signals every second. The development of AI was based on the brain and the concept of neurons working together. Now, the way AI works with deep learning is helping us understand much more clearly how the brain works.[9]

Scientists will be able to better understand the causes of the various forms of autism simply by achieving a better understanding of how the brain and its multi billions of interconnection functions.

References

[1] Henderson, Donna, “Is This Autism?: A Guide for Clinicians and Everyone Else,” Routledge New York, NY, 2013.

[2] Bergman, Jerry, “The Problem of Over-Design for Darwinism,” Answers Research Journal 15:11–20, https://assets.answersresearchjournal.org/doc/v15/over_design_darwinism.pdf, 23 February 2022.

[3] Aboulenein, Ahmed, and Julie Steenhuysen, “Kennedy sets September deadline to identify cause of rising U.S. autism rates,” Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/health-secretary-kennedy-says-us-will-know-cause-autism-epidemic-by-september-2025-04-10/, 10 April 2025.

[4] Davis, James, Autism Unleashed, Genius Unleashed: The Extraordinary Lives of 13 Autistic Visionaries.‎ Independently published, 2024.

[5] Tammet, Daniel, Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant, Free Press, New York, NY, 2007.

[6] Rippon, Gina, The Lost Girls of Autism: How Science Failed Autistic Women, Macmillan, New York, NY, 2025.

[7] “Do vaccines cause autism?,” Autism Speaks, https://www.autismspeaks.org/do-vaccines-cause-autism, 2021(?).

[8] “RFK, Jr., says the cause of autism will be found by September, but experts fear he’s reviving debunked theories,” CBS News Health Watch, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-cause-of-autism-research/,11 April 2025.

[9] Kelly, Nicholas, et al., “The brain is the most complicated object in the universe. This is the story of scientists’ quest to decode it – and read people’s minds,” The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/the-brain-is-the-most-complicated-object-in-the-universe-this-is-the-story-of-scientists-quest-to-decode-it-and-read-peoples-minds-222458, 7 February 2024.

Dr. Jerry Bergman has taught biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology for over 40 years at several colleges and universities including Bowling Green State University, Medical College of Ohio where he was a research associate in experimental pathology, and The University of Toledo. He is a graduate of the Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University in Detroit, the University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University. He has over 1,900 publications in 14 languages and 40 books and monographs. His books and textbooks that include chapters that he authored are in over 1,800 college libraries in 27 countries. So far over 80,000 copies of the 60 books and monographs that he has authored or co-authored are in print. For more articles by Dr Bergman, see his Author Profile.