2026年8月24日 / 美国东部时间凌晨5:00 / KFF健康新闻 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
在佛罗里达州温特黑文的链湖小学，乔塞特·史密斯9岁的儿子伊桑得以做他最热爱的事：手工、数学和科学。前提是他不用被拉出课堂。
伊桑患有自闭症和注意缺陷多动障碍。他在幼儿园时期就被诊断出自闭症，此前他的行为令亲属担忧：他会来回踱步、拍打手臂，沉迷于高度特定的兴趣爱好，比如马丁·路德·金和腊肠犬。
据史密斯针对学校提起的投诉，在与学校管理层和学区召开的制定个性化教育计划会议上——这是一份列明伊桑所需支持的法律协议——团队一致认为，他需要一名经过培训的辅助人员帮助他调节情绪、留在课堂上。但投诉声称，管理层不愿提供专属助教。伊桑的学校非但没有落实他儿子所需的支持，反而屡次将他带离课堂、对其停课，甚至在他三年级时叫来了警察，史密斯写道。
作为一名七年级科学教师，史密斯表示，她最初就这些指控向学区和州政府提起了投诉。但当问题持续存在时，她转向了美国教育部民权办公室——这个联邦机构负责处理此类投诉。史密斯的联邦投诉包含了相同的指控，并声称学校因儿子的残疾和种族歧视他，包括施加压力迫使她的黑人儿子退出公立学校。今年5月，该办公室表示将对她的多项指控展开调查。
对于那些认为自己孩子在学校因种族、残疾或性别权利受到侵犯的家庭而言，这个联邦机构往往是主要求助渠道之一。但白宫削减了该机构的办公室数量，削弱了其跟进案件的能力，还削减了针对有色人种在自闭症诊断和获取残疾资源方面面临的差距的研究资金。
乔塞特·史密斯的儿子伊桑今年即将升入四年级，患有自闭症和注意缺陷多动障碍。他在学校需要额外支持，比如一名经过培训的辅助人员帮助他调节情绪。——奥克塔维奥·琼斯 为KFF健康新闻拍摄
截至2022年，每31名美国儿童中就有1名在8岁前被诊断为自闭症谱系障碍。尽管此前关于儿童自闭症诊断差距的研究结果喜忧参半，但纽约州立大学奥尔巴尼分校社会与健康公平研究所最近的一项研究发现，种族、性别和社会经济差距仍然存在。该研究发现，在2003年至2022年的四年级学生中，有色人种学生、女孩、低收入学生和多语言学习者在学校被确诊为自闭症的可能性低于同龄人，尽管历史上处于边缘地位群体的儿童诊断率有所上升。同一研究团队即将发表的一项大型研究发现，拥有多重身份的群体之间的差距最为显著。黑人及西班牙裔女孩被确诊的概率尤其低。
所有这一切都发生在唐纳德·特朗普总统的第二届政府将自闭症置于聚光灯下之际。今年8月初，特朗普签署了一项行政命令，简化儿童常规免疫接种程序，同时虚假地将疫苗与自闭症联系起来。他将此描述为个人优先事项，以及“历史上最令人担忧的公共卫生发展之一”。卫生与公众服务部部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪在2025年4月称自闭症是一种“摧毁家庭的‘悲剧’”，并为毫无根据的自闭症病因说法提供了可信度，包括毫无根据地将自闭症与儿童疫苗和孕期服用泰诺联系起来。
“本届政府正将我们带向倒退，”自闭症有色人种基金会创始人兼执行董事卡米尔·普罗克特说道。
卫生与公众服务部发言人艾米丽·希利在一封电子邮件中表示，肯尼迪去年春天的言论“强调需要加强对导致自闭症诊断率上升的环境因素的研究，而非污名化自闭症患者及其家庭”。她补充道，该机构的改革“旨在让联邦支持系统更好地为儿童和家庭服务”。白宫发言人库什·德赛未置评请求。教育部新闻办公室也未回应。
对专注于残疾学生的联邦政府部门的削减和研究经费缩减已经产生了影响。2025年3月，特朗普签署行政命令解散教育部，并关闭了其民权办公室12个地区办事处中的7个。今年6月，他的政府将特殊教育监督职责大幅转移至卫生与公众服务部，将民权办公室的职责转移至司法部。
“从理论上讲，这只是一次重组，”曾在民权办公室担任主管律师、如今经营自己的教育法律事务所的南希·波特说道。但实际上，她说，这可能会让那些投诉涉及多重伤害——比如种族和残疾歧视——的家庭陷入职责划分不同的机构之间的真空地带。“如今这些案件中最难举证的部分，恰恰是没有明确归属的部分。”
今年4月，也就是该行政命令颁布一年后，参议员伯尼·桑德斯（I-佛蒙特州）提交的参议院委员会报告显示，民权办公室的歧视投诉结案率达到12年来的最低点，积压了近1.2万起民权案件。《华盛顿邮报》最近的一项调查发现，特朗普政府“无限期冻结”了其中许多案件。
除了这些削减之外，白宫誓言停止对学校纪律等领域的“公平”调查，尽管研究表明，非白人和低收入儿童在被确诊为自闭症以及获取该病症和其他神经发育诊断资源方面面临不成比例的障碍。
白宫还大幅削减了教育部研究机构教育科学研究所的经费，取消了约9亿美元的研究资金，包括长期开展的学校数据收集工作。该政府进一步提议终止学校纪律方面的种族差异数据收集。美国国立卫生研究院和国家科学基金会已剔除了提及“种族”和“性别”等术语的项目，摧毁了专注于多样性、公平性或包容性的研究。
“如果我们削减任何有助于我们了解问题本质的数据收集工作，我们就无法解决问题，”领导自闭症诊断差距研究的纽约州立大学奥尔巴尼分校社会与健康公平研究所所长保罗·摩根说道。“我们现在所做的一切只会让情况变得更糟。”
自闭症有色人种基金会的普罗克特曾在该联邦专家委员会任职，她表示，这个具有全国影响力的联邦自闭症专家委员会似乎也缺乏知名科学家和黑人成员，自闭症自我倡导者的数量也比以前更少。该委员会还因吸纳疫苗反对者而受到批评。
卫生与公众服务部的希利表示，委员会成员“拥有数十年自闭症研究和临床护理经验”，并致力于“让联邦政策符合最高标准的科学”。
残疾权益倡导者表示，联邦官员将注意力放在了错误的优先事项上。
“所有这一切都在制造本不必要的混乱，”前自闭症自我倡导网络政策分析师卡梅伦·林奇说道。
残疾权利倡导者担心，对特殊教育监督职责的调整会削弱针对自闭症学生和其他残疾人群体的联邦安全网，在家庭需要帮助维护学生权利时，让这些系统变得更加令人困惑。
自闭症之声倡导事务副总裁戴维·西特科夫斯基表示，家庭——尤其是来自边缘社区的家庭——往往已经难以获得支持，无法及时为孩子做出诊断或在学校系统中获得服务。
“这些问题的共同主线是获取渠道，”西特科夫斯基说道。“如果孩子的权利没有得到维护，他们是否有明确的途径获得帮助？”
史密斯正在等待联邦民权案件的裁决，她被告知由于案件积压，裁决可能需要一年多的时间，而此时伊桑已经开始了四年级的学习。她希望将伊桑转到一所更有能力支持他的学校。她还要求为她向州政府提起的正当程序投诉举行快速听证会。
乔塞特·史密斯代表她9岁的儿子伊桑向联邦教育部民权办公室提起投诉，指控他在佛罗里达州温特黑文的学校因残疾和种族受到歧视。该办公室表示将对她的多项指控展开调查，并驳回了州政府已经审查过的其他指控。——奥克塔维奥·琼斯 为KFF健康新闻拍摄
这家人还在应对针对伊桑的殴打指控，第一起指控于今年3月提起，此前学校因伊桑涉嫌殴打教职工而报警。史密斯提供的警方报告和电子邮件显示，在史密斯书面向学区提交联邦歧视投诉数小时后，警察才抵达她家。史密斯在多起投诉中都指出了这一时间点。
波尔克县公立学校发言人以保护学生隐私为由拒绝置评。佛罗里达州教育部未回应置评请求。
“作为一名黑人母亲，你不敢抱怨任何事，”史密斯说道。“一旦你开始为孩子争取权益，就会惹上麻烦。但这些孩子并没有错，他们只是患有残疾。”
研究表明，如果没有及时的评估和干预，像伊桑这样的有色残疾儿童会不成比例地面临被逐出公立学校、陷入少年司法和刑事司法系统的风险。
凯瑟琳·拉蒙在奥巴马和拜登政府时期领导教育部民权办公室，如今是加州大学伯克利分校法学院埃德利法律与民主中心的执行主任。她表示，对于想要保护孩子权利的家庭来说，这是一个令人恐惧的时期。
“人们看不到警车就会超速行驶，”拉蒙说道。“如果他们认为联邦政府没有人在学校监督他们，我们将会看到歧视现象增加。”
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Trump puts autistic kids in the spotlight and cuts agencies built to protect them
August 24, 2026 / 5:00 AM EDT / KFF Health News / CBS News
At Chain of Lakes Elementary School in Winter Haven, Florida, Josette Smith’s 9-year-old son, Ethan, gets to do what he loves most: crafts, math, and science. That is, when he isn’t being pulled out of class.
Ethan has autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He was diagnosed with autism in kindergarten after displaying behavior that concerned his relatives: He paced, flapped his arms, and became consumed with highly specific interests, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and dachshunds.
In a meeting with school administrators and the district to develop his individualized education program, a legal agreement that outlines the support Ethan requires, the team agreed he required a trained paraprofessional to help him regulate his emotions and remain in class, according to complaints Smith filed against the school. However, the complaints alleged, administrators were unwilling to provide the dedicated aide. Instead of implementing the supports her son needed, his school repeatedly removed him from instruction, suspended him, and even called police on him when he was in third grade, Smith wrote.
Smith, a seventh grade science teacher, said she first filed complaints with the school district and the state with these allegations. But when problems persisted, she turned to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, the federal agency tasked with resolving complaints like hers. Smith’s federal complaint included the same account and alleged that the school discriminated against her son because of his disability and race, including deploying pressure tactics to push her Black son out of the public school. In May, the office said it would investigate several of her allegations.
For families who believe their child’s rights were violated based on race, disability, or gender in school, the federal agency often has been one of the main places to turn. But the White House cut its offices and weakened its ability to follow up with cases, as well as slashed funding to research on disparities that people of color face in getting diagnosed and attaining resources for disabilities.
Josette Smith’s son, Ethan, begins fourth grade this year and has autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He needs additional supports at school, such as having a trained paraprofessional help him regulate his emotions. Octavio Jones for KFF Health News
About 1 in 31 U.S. kids by age 8 had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as of 2022. Although previous research on disparities in childhood autism diagnoses has had mixed results, a recent study from the State University of New York at Albany’s Institute for Social and Health Equity found that race, gender, and socioeconomic gaps persist. Among fourth graders from 2003 to 2022, students of color, girls, low-income students, and multilingual learners were less likely than peers to be identified with autism in school, even as diagnoses rose among children from historically marginalized groups, the study found. A large forthcoming study by the same researchers found the biggest gaps among overlapping identities. Black and Hispanic girls were especially unlikely to be identified.
All this has happened as President Donald Trump’s second administration has put autism in the spotlight. In early August, Trump signed an executive order to whittle down routine immunizations for kids while falsely tying vaccines to autism. He has presented it as a personal priority and one of “the most alarming public health developments in history.” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in April 2025 called autism a “tragedy” that “destroys families,” and he’s lent credence to ungrounded claims of autism’s causes, including unfounded links to childhood vaccines and Tylenol during pregnancy.
“This administration is taking us backwards,” said Camille Proctor, founder and executive director of The Color of Autism Foundation.
HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said in an email that Kennedy’s statements last spring “emphasized the need for increased research into environmental factors contributing to the rise in autism diagnoses, not to stigmatize individuals with autism or their families.” She added that the agency changes are “about making federal support systems work better for children and families.” White House spokesperson Kush Desai did not respond to a request for comment. Neither did the press office for the Department of Education.
The cuts to agencies and research have affected parts of the federal government focused on students with disabilities. In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education and closed seven of its Office for Civil Rights’ 12 regional offices. This June, his administration largely shifted special-education oversight to HHS and the Office for Civil Rights to the Department of Justice.
“On paper, it’s a reorganization,” said Nancy Potter, a former supervising attorney at the Office for Civil Rights who now runs her own education law firm. In practice, she said, it could leave families whose complaints involve overlapping harms — such as race and disability discrimination — caught between agencies built for different jobs. “The hardest thing to prove in these cases is now the thing with no obvious home.”
In April, a year after the order, a Senate committee report from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) concluded that the Office for Civil Rights had reached a 12-year-low in resolutions to discrimination complaints and had a backlog of nearly 12,000 civil rights cases. A recent Washington Post investigation found that the Trump administration “indefinitely froze” many of these cases.
On top of those cuts, the White House vowed to stop “equity” investigations in areas such as school discipline despite research showing that nonwhite and low-income kids disproportionately face barriers to being identified with autism and attaining resources for the condition and other neurodevelopmental diagnoses.
It also decimated the Institute of Education Sciences, the Department of Education’s research arm, canceling roughly $900 million in funding for research, including long-standing data collection in schools. The administration further proposed ending data collection on racial disparities in school discipline. The National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation have purged projects referencing terms including “race” and “gender,” gutting research focused on diversity, equity, or inclusion.
“If we’re cutting any data collection that helps us understand the problem, we’re not going to fix it,” said Paul Morgan, director of the Institute for Social and Health Equity at SUNY-Albany, who led the studies on disparities in autism diagnoses. “All we’re doing right now is making the situation worse.”
The nation’s influential federal autism panel also appears to lack prominent scientists and Black members and has fewer autistic self-advocates than before, said Proctor of The Color of Autism Foundation, who served on the panel before the Trump administration took over. The panel has also been criticized for including vaccine opponents.
HHS’ Hilliard said the members “bring decades of experience in autism research and clinical care” and are committed to aligning “federal policy with gold-standard science.”
Disability advocates say federal officials are focused on the wrong priorities.
“All of it creates chaos where chaos is not necessary,” said Cameron Lynch, a former policy analyst for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
Disability rights advocates fear the changes to special education oversight weaken the federal safety net for autistic students and others with disabilities, making these systems more confusing when families need help enforcing students’ rights.
David Sitcovsky, Autism Speaks’ vice president of advocacy, said families, especially those from marginalized communities, already often lack support for their children to receive a timely diagnosis or services in their school systems.
“The common thread across these issues is access,” Sitcovsky said. “If their child’s rights are not being upheld, do they have a clear path to get help?”
Smith awaits a decision about her federal civil rights case, which she was told could take more than a year amid the backlog, as Ethan has started fourth grade. She wants Ethan transferred to a school better equipped to support him. She has also requested an expedited hearing for a due process complaint she filed with the state.
Josette Smith filed a complaint with the federal Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on behalf of her 9-year-old son, Ethan, alleging that his school in Winter Haven, Florida, discriminated against him because of his disability and race. The office said it would investigate several of her allegations and dismissed others that the state had already reviewed. Octavio Jones for KFF Health News
The family is also navigating battery charges against Ethan, the first of which was filed in March after the school called police on him for allegedly hitting staff. A police report and an email provided by Smith showed that police arrived at her door hours after Smith informed the school district in writing that she had filed a federal discrimination complaint. Smith also pointed out the timing in several of her complaints.
A Polk County Public Schools spokesperson declined to comment, citing student confidentiality. The Florida Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment.
“As a Black mom, you dare not complain about anything,” Smith said. “Once you start advocating for your kids, it’s a problem. But it’s not these kids’ fault that they have a disability.”
Without timely assessments and interventions, studies show, children of color with disabilities such as Ethan are disproportionately at risk of being funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems.
Catherine Lhamon led the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights in the Obama and Biden administrations and is now executive director of the Edley Center on Law & Democracy at the University of California-Berkeley School of Law. She said it’s a scary time for families who want to protect their children’s rights.
“People speed if they don’t see a police car,” Lhamon said. “If they think that there’s no one at the federal government watching them in school, we will see an increase in discrimination.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
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