Summary:
Autism Awareness Month should be a time for visibility, inclusion, and progress. But in April 2025, the Trump administration reversed course—cutting research funding, delaying inclusive mental health studies, excluding autistic advocates, and quietly erasing support materials in schools.
This episode outlines how multiple federal agencies, from the Department of Defense to NIH and the Department of Education, executed rollbacks during a month designed to uplift autistic individuals. We explore the emotional cost of these losses through the THX frameworks—and why cutting visibility during moments of expected recognition causes deeper civic and psychological harm.
🔍 Topics Covered
Department of Defense eliminates $15M Autism Research Program
NIH delays projects focused on suicide prevention and marginalized autistic communities
Federal probes exclude autistic advocates and researchers
Department of Education continues erasing disability-related support tied to DEI
Emotional, policy, and trust breakdowns across the autism community
🧠 Frameworks Applied
12 Utilities – Resource loss, diminished Access and Accuracy, negative Emotion Evoked
PERMAH – Health, Meaning, and Relationship harmed by institutional exclusion
Admiration Equation – Prevented admiration by erasing the opportunity to recognize skill, goodness, and shared humanity
Prospect Theory – Visibility followed by removal causes more pain than silence ever would
📚 Citations & Sources
📌 Call to Action
Ask who is missing from conversations that claim to promote awareness
Reflect on how government timing and silence can shape public memory
Share this episode with educators, parents, neurodivergent leaders, and those working toward authentic inclusion
Join us next as we track the targeting of mental health support and crisis services in May
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