Kennedy Jr. to meet. Singer’s brother and daughter are two of the millions living with autism in the United States, and part of a much larger community that has very publicly expressed feeling hurt and disrespected by the US Health and Human Services secretary’s description of who they are and how they live.

Autism numbers in the U.S. are on the upswing, with 1 in 31 8-year-olds (3.2%) diagnosed in 2022. In 2000, the ratio was 1 in 150.

Those who work with children with autism say the recent increase in diagnoses comes from better screening for — and wider knowledge of — the disorder.