"To organize a large-scale U.S. effort on behalf of autism and autism epidemiology will take a lot of time," researcher Walter Zahorodny told Newsweek.

Medical experts, along with people on the autism spectrum, told PolitiFact that Kennedy’s portrayal was skewed.

The Health and Human Services secretary defended his claims about children with autism that drew backlash last week, saying he was referring to a quarter of those diagnosed.