Two stars of the popular Netflix reality dating show Love on the Spectrum said Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial comments about autism couldn’t be further from their reality — and they have the potential to do tremendous damage to the community.

Last month, Kennedy ignited a furor when he said that “autism destroys families” and is an “individual tragedy as well.” The Health and Human Services secretary described autistic children as people who “will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.”

Dani Bowman and James B. Jones spoke to Today, Explained host Noel King about Kennedy’s comments and called for him to resign.

Bowman founded and leads DaniMation, a company that teaches animation skills to youth on the autism spectrum, and Jones has worked in technical support for over a decade. They are both in committed relationships and said that Kennedy’s depictions of autistic people don’t describe them or the vast majority of people on the spectrum.

Kennedy is looking to fast-track research into the root causes of autism, and has repeatedly raised debunked theories about childhood vaccines and environmental toxins. He also laid out a plan to amass government medical records and collect private health data from pharmacies, hospitals, and even smartwatches and fitness trackers about autistic people. Those plans were revised after an outcry over privacy concerns. But, as Stat News has reported, autistic people and parents of autistic kids........

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