10 h. ago RFK Jr’s autism comments place blame and shift research responsibility to parents, critics say

Head of US Department of Health told parents to ‘do their own research’ when deciding to vaccinate their childrenRobert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, has intimated that parents are to blame for their children’s autism, and that they are responsible for researching every aspect of their children’s lives that could affect their development.“We have to recognize we are doing this to our children, and we need to put an end to it,” Kennedy said at his first press conference as health secretary. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago People baffled over teacher's response to simple maths question for 10

A student was left confused when her teacher marked her correct answers on her maths worksheet wrong - and then gave a bizarre explanation.

Politics

1 week ago Bill Gates’ daughter reveals father has Asperger’s syndrome after comments about autism spectrum

The 69-year-old billionaire Microsoft co-founder has never publicly shared his diagnosis with Asperger’s

Politics

2 w. ago British teens don't know how to save money and their parents are paying the price

New data has revealed that teens are falling short when it comes to financial comprehension. As a result, parents are taking responsibility for their teens' financial wellbeing

Economics

2 w. ago Why does RFK Jr want to put my family on an ‘autism registry’? | Deborah Bloom

I’m scared about the health secretary’s vow to find the cause behind the so-called ‘autism epidemic’I always knew my parents operated on a different wavelength than most.For one, they are both exceptionally smart. My mother is a former mathematician, who studied the various levels of infinity as part of her master’s thesis. My father is a computer programmer who, at 17 years old, was one of the youngest people to ever be able to communicate with ships in morse code. They met at a party for members of Mensa, a club for the highly intelligent. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Love on the Spectrum star hits out at RFK Jr’s ‘downright offensive’ autism claims

A star of Netflix's Love on the Spectrum condemned Robert F Kennedy Jr's comments about autism, describing his remarks as "extremely ignorant" and "downright offensive."

Events

2 w. ago People with autism and their families: share your views on Robert F Kennedy Jr’s comments

We’d like to hear from people with autism, and their families, on the impact of RFK’s commentsIn his first press conference, Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, said that the recent rise in autism diagnoses was evidence of an “epidemic” caused by an “environmental toxin”.Health experts and autism advocates have repeatedly said the rise in diagnoses is related to better recognition of the condition, changing diagnostic criteria and better access to screening. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago RFK's claims about people with autism offer a sinister insight into how Trumpism sees us all | John Harris

The war on science being waged by the US health secretary and the White House is bound to spread. We must be on our guardIn the recent past, Robert F Kennedy Jr has said that Donald Trump is “a terrible human being” and “probably a sociopath”. But in the US’s new age of irrationalism and chaos, these two men are now of one voice, pursuing a strand of Trumpist politics that sometimes feels strangely overlooked. With Trump once again in the White House and Kennedy ensconced as his health and human services secretary, what they are jointly leading is becoming clearer by the day: a war on science and knowledge that aims to replace them with the modern superstitions of conspiracy theory.Nearly 2,000 members of the US’s National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have warned of “slashing funding for scientific agencies, terminating grants to scientists, defunding their laboratories, and hampering international scientific collaboration”. Even work on cancer is now under threa...

Politics

3 w. ago RFK’s statements prove autistic people and their families everywhere should fear Trump and his allies | John Harris

The idea that autism is some aberration that can be cured is typical of a movement that celebrates simplistic thinking and loathes human differenceIn the recent past, Robert F Kennedy Jr has said that Donald Trump is “a terrible human being” and “probably a sociopath”. But in the US’s new age of irrationalism and chaos, these two men are now of one voice, pursuing a strand of Trumpist politics that sometimes feels strangely overlooked. With Trump once again in the White House and Kennedy ensconced as his health and human services secretary, what they are jointly leading is becoming clearer by the day: a war on science and knowledge that aims to replace them with the modern superstitions of conspiracy theory.Nearly 2,000 members of the US’s National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have warned of “slashing funding for scientific agencies, terminating grants to scientists, defunding their laboratories, and hampering international scientific collaboration”. Even work on...

Politics

3 w. ago Barking at female staff and blocking doorways: Teachers warn of rise in misogyny and racism in UK schools

Survey finds social media main cause of poor behaviour, with pupils mimicking Donald Trump and Andrew TateA rise in misogyny and racism is flooding UK schools as pupils ape the behaviour of figures such as Donald Trump and Andrew Tate after exposure through social media and online gaming, teachers have warned.A survey by the NASUWT union found most teachers identified social media as “the number one cause” of pupil misbehaviour, with female staff bearing the brunt. Teachers also raised concerns about parents who refuse to accept school rules or take responsibility for their children’s behaviour. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Parents who 'abdicate responsibility' for their children's bad behaviour in class should face sanctions from schools, union members say

Members of the NASUWT have told its annual conference heads should crack down on those allowing their offspring to abuse teachers.

Society

3 w. ago Deteriorating relations between parents and schools ‘affecting pupil behaviour’

Parents are abdicating responsibility for their child’s behaviour, delegates at the annual conference of the NASUWT teaching union heard.

Politics

3 w. ago How RFK Jr’s mixed messages on vaccines are impacting scientific research – podcast

As a measles outbreak expands across the US, comments by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr have come under scrutiny. Kennedy has said that the best way to prevent measles is to get vaccinated – but he has also caused alarm among paediatricians, vaccine experts and lawmakers by promoting vitamin A and nutrition as treatments for measles and questioning the safety testing of the MMR vaccine. He also recently announced a US-led scientific effort to establish the cause of what he terms the ‘autism epidemic’, with some experts concerned that this study will support the widely discredited association between autism and vaccines. US health reporter Jessica Glenza tells Ian Sample, the Guardian’s science editor, how these mixed messages are already impacting scientific research.RFK Jr says his response to measles outbreak should be ‘model for the world’RFK Jr contradicts experts by linking autism rise to ‘environmental toxins’ Continue reading...

Science

4 w. ago Moment Donald Trump brutally snubs handshake with RFK Jr's actress wife Cheryl Hines at UFC 314

Actress Hines stood alongside her husband - Trump's secretary of health - as the president arrived at Kaseya Center in Miami and made his way to his seat.

Politics