Latest news with #NoelKing
Vox
08-07-2025
- Climate
- Vox
Trump cut the National Weather Service. Did that impact Texas flood warnings?
In the wake of deadly flooding in Texas, my colleague Noel King, who cohosts the Today, Explained podcast spoke with CNN senior climate reporter Andrew Freedman about what we know about the impact of cuts to the National Weather Service and what those cuts could mean for future disasters. This conversation originally appeared on the Today, Explained podcast and was featured in the Today, Explained newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There's much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify. What do we know about [the two weather forecasting offices in Texas]? Were they fully staffed? The term that I would use is they were 'adequately staffed.' They were staffed to the extent that most offices would be staffed overnight during the night of the horrible, tragic flooding. They each are missing some employees. In the case of the Austin/San Antonio office, they're missing a warning coordination meteorologist and a science and operations officer. Both of those positions were opened up because people took early retirement under the Trump administration's program to try to get people to reduce the size of the federal government. And then the office in San Angelo, Texas, is missing a meteorologist in charge. So that's like the top meteorologist for the office. These staff cuts in those two particular offices do not seem to have had a major impact or even a very clear impact on the way the weather service performed during this event. What I think I'm hearing is that your reporting does not seem to suggest at this point that the disaster in Texas was caused by the Trump administration cuts. Am I hearing that right? You are hearing that right. The missing warning coordination meteorologist in the Austin office…that's the biggest question. Because that position is somebody who interacts with emergency managers who are then responsible for warning the community. But when I've talked to sources, they basically are saying it probably did not affect the timeliness of the warnings, the tone of the warnings, which ratcheted up very quickly, as well as how early they caught on to this event possibly taking place. Do we know why that top meteorologist position in San Angelo was unfilled? I don't know specifically offhand. However, there are offices around the country that are without their meteorologist-in-charge. The National Weather Service lost about 600 people. They did get hit hard by DOGE cuts. What's happened with these cuts is they're losing the most experienced people. The people who are near retirement age are taking these packages and are leaving. And then you have to train up people who are coming in, and they don't have the same level of experience. But there is one point that's really important here because the cuts have been so deep around the country: This is a question that's going to come up at every single disaster that takes place. Because the meteorologists that I've been talking to in the broader community are basically telling me this doesn't seem to be the event that vacancies caused a tragedy. But mark my words that that will happen at some point if this isn't addressed. What are your sources worried about? They're concerned about hurricane season. This event actually was the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry. And that rained out over inland Texas. We also just had Tropical Storm Chantal that made landfall in South Carolina and is causing flooding today and caused flooding over the weekend. So it's just this sense in the community that they're really stretched thin, that people are working longer shifts, people are working six-day weeks. When a disaster hits, FEMA is often there to pick up the pieces, to help clear up the wreckage. The Trump administration has also made cuts to FEMA. Do we know how broad those are? The cuts to FEMA are quite broad. They really are quite deep. The administration has talked about getting rid of FEMA after the hurricane season. However, they pretty much kind of stopped that process as hurricane season came upon us. These cuts are being made to the National Weather Service, FEMA, in the name of cost savings. Does this actually save money? That's a very good question. I don't know that I can answer that conclusively here. I can tell you, though, that there are enormous economic benefits to accurate weather forecasts. Studies have shown savings of billions of dollars with more accurate hurricane track forecasts, for example.
Finextra
04-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Napier AI appoints Noel King as chief technology officer
Napier AI, the London-based financial crime compliance RegTech firm, has appointed industry veteran Noel King as Chief Technology Officer to expand the company's AI-enabled financial crime compliance software to combat money laundering. 0 King joins with decades of experience spanning tech strategy, cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity, having most recently served as the CTO at Implement Technologies and Shipyard Technology Ventures. He has previously leveraged innovative cloud-native platforms for global corporations like Mastercard and Goldman Sachs. In the role, King will build financial crime compliance software products across client screening, transaction monitoring and transaction screening, helping high-profile financial institutions combat financial criminals and protect against losses. These solutions will provide even better detection against money laundering and significantly reduce the workload of compliance teams through API-first technology. Greg Watson, CEO of Napier AI, said: 'Our mission is to be the global leader in financial crime compliance software, and Noel is the perfect person to make that happen. His expertise in building and scaling technology companies will be invaluable as we continue on our exciting journey of helping financial institutions across the globe root out financial crime. Technology has a vital part to play in that and Noel's leadership will help us double down on our tech vision and bring AI to the forefront of anti-money laundering.' A customer-first approach and efficiency through AI are core pillars of Napier AI's technology strategy for the next year. Noel will focus on building AI-enabled solutions that remain online for when financial institutions need them most, helping to future-proof compliance operations. Noel King, Chief Technology Officer at Napier AI, commented: 'Technology and software are our best defence against financial crime, and Napier AI is best positioned to solve that problem globally. We understand the challenges facing financial institutions. They're tasked with screening large networks of transactions, people and businesses for malicious financial criminals in a landscape that's growing increasingly sophisticated and complex. We want to build AI-powered tech solutions that wow customers, addressing their future plans and biggest pain points.' As part of his appointment, King will also lead Napier AI's Belfast centre of excellence, a new high-performing tech hub in Northern Ireland dedicated to the research and development of Napier AI's AI-powered anti-money laundering technology. As part of the centre's mission, Napier AI is working closely with Belfast City Council on training and upskilling initiatives to create career paths and opportunities for people in the local area. These plans are set to expand to programming courses for young people in Northern Ireland. King was previously named Irish Technology Person of the Year in 2018 and founded Coolest Projects to champion youth innovation in tech, making him the perfect driver of innovation across Northern Ireland and globally.
Vox
11-05-2025
- General
- Vox
America is a country of doomsday preppers
Kirsch shared his insights into prepping and Americans' desire to look out for themselves in emergency situations with the Today, Explained co-host Noel King. You can read an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity, below, and listen to the full episode of Today, Explained on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts. How does one get into, at the university level, researching the end of the world? It started off as this investigation into these doomsday-prepping kits that were coming out of Silicon Valley from this startup called Preppi. What was the story that Preppi was trying to tell? The way that they sold it, at least at the time that we were looking at their materials, was that this was a 'bug-out bag' that you would be proud to display in your living room. It was a really nice weekend bag, and it had a piece of chocolate in there they say you're gonna really like. And had these very high-end cosmetics and face lotions. So this bag, its contents and style, don't mark you as some sort of weirdo who was sort of secretly stashing away goods, but rather it is sort of an outward display of good taste. And so, these class markers become super important in telling this story. Trying to sort of pull this behavior out of the shadows and sort of trying to locate it at the beating heart of mainstream American culture. Do you have a bug-out bag? I don't. Where I live in the desert, FEMA issues recommendations for geographic regions for what people should have. So my co-author, Emily Ray, does have a bug-out bag because she lives in the Bay Area. I have 15 gallons of potable water ready because I live in the desert. Good. I have a little kit, a just-in-case kit. And I have always wondered how many other people are engaged in prepping or prepping-adjacent behavior. How many of us are there out there? It can be hard to track. Because on the one hand, there's no bright line where a certain behavior turns into prepping, right? But FEMA does give a national household survey, and their 2023 results indicate that about half of Americans indicate that they are engaging in some kind of preparedness for some sort of adverse event. If you told me to envision a prepper, I have a picture in my head. Is my picture fair? Is there a type of person who preps? You're right that there's a sort of media spectacle version of a prepper, and that gets informed by a lot of things like cable and reality television. I'm not even just talking about the extreme preppers. There's an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, where they go into an Atlas bunker and try to imagine what it would be like to ride out the end of the world. And so I think that's an interesting starting point. But again, as Emily and I were digging into this, what we eventually concluded was that this behavior can be marginalized and seem to be extreme, but it actually is a kind of behavior that is constitutive of being American. In other words, we argue that prepping is an American institution, and that from the founding, Americans have seen themselves as a prepared citizenry. We've seen this throughout the past couple of hundreds of years, where Americans are invited to see themselves as the self-sufficient frontier people who are able to tame the elements and dominate the wilderness and bring America into new spaces. And that 40 percent of us are preparing in some way — this feels like a very high number to me — would seem to suggest you're right, this is part of the identity of many of us. When do we see this put to the test? There are a couple of ways to tackle that. The first is at the apocalyptic register, things like nuclear war, right? Or total societal collapse. Americans really haven't had to deal with that. And that's an important part for our analysis, too. Because we argue that one of the reasons what we call a 'bunkerization fantasy' is potent is because Americans have never actually had to go to ground. They've never actually had to take cover in the way that many Europeans had to during the Second World War. That's one part of the story: It's easy to think about readiness and what to do in the face of total collapse because it's been deferred. It becomes a site of fantasy. On the other hand, you're also right that the US has ongoing extreme weather events, hurricanes, wildfires, dust bowls, droughts — the list goes on and on. And the way that we tell that story is the way we diagnosed the neoliberal condition of American political life: These disasters happen. There is an oftentimes inadequate or incomplete state response. And so the reaction to that becomes, I can't rely on the government to do things, so it's up to me to take responsibility for my own preparation. And the way that I do that is through consumption choices. Today, Explained Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day, compiled by news editor Sean Collins. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. One beautiful part of the American economy is that there is always somebody who will sell you something if you have enough money. And when we think about preppers, when I think about preppers, I do tend to think about ultra-rich people, like Mark Zuckerberg buying a private island, raising their own food, these guys in Silicon Valley buying land in New Zealand. What is the deal with the ultra-wealthy and their preparation for the end of the world? Do they know something that we don't or do they just have a lot of money and need to spend it? I think it's the latter. I really think this is a sort of conspicuous consumption. These ultra-rich people, we hear a lot about their preparation plans. You mentioned Zuckerberg and Peter Thiel, and those are the two most high-profile examples. And what I think is notable about those is that they get profiled in Forbes or Fortune or these monocle-like publications for upwardly mobile people. And they lavish the reader with all sorts of details about the extravagant things that these folks are doing. And then there's always this coy, But we'll never tell you where it is, right? And so it's a way to signal conspicuous consumption that more middle-class or upwardly mobile Americans can at least try to emulate. But I do want to suggest, too, though, that this takes on strange dimensions. I'm sure, for instance, you've read a lot about Elon Musk's desire to go to Mars. So much. Yes. Right, and it's a fantasy. It's in many ways based on this mentality, There's nothing we can do here anymore and so we're gonna have to try again on another orb. There's a risk here of upping the ante. So what starts with the rich often trickles down to the less rich, which is why I have a LifeStraw and an L.L. Bean knife. If we talk about people who are not the Elon Musks or the Peter Thiels of the world, is prepping big business among the middle class as well? Yes, and like many other industries in the US, it ebbs and flows. And we trace that back to the Cold War where there were home fallout shelter kits that you could buy. Those went under in the '60s and now they're coming back. You can look at different kinds of preparedness markets that pop up. Shelf-stable food is becoming an increasingly common thing to see. I know at my local Costcos, there are often aisle endcaps that have pyramids of these food buckets that you can store in your house. We might just be in a period of upswing right now. There are still companies that will come bury a fallout shelter in your backyard and promise not to tell anybody where they put it. You're in Arizona. What's the scenario that most worries you? Grid failure. And that's just because, as you can imagine, in the Sonoran Desert, it's hard to imagine making it through 115-degree days without some kind of chemically induced air conditioning. My biggest ones are electromagnetic pulse, hurricane, tornado, and civil war. Electromagnetic pulse is akin to grid failure, right? It means the electricity goes out, and you're trying to figure out what to do. We just saw this happen in Spain and Portugal. It was really a nightmare. It makes me wonder: Should we really want to survive a doomsday scenario? It sounds like a bleak question, but I think in some ways, that is the politically animating question. What can we confront alone and what can we confront together, right? And if we limit ourselves to confronting things alone, I think that threshold is pretty low. Yeah. And so you can think about, again, the ultimate example of this, thermonuclear conflagration. I would say, No, you don't wanna go through that. You'd want to just vaporize. But once you start thinking about smaller-scale or more regionally located catastrophes that might emerge, the tolerance for persisting through those things is amplified when they're done in concert and collectively with other people. When considering risk tolerance, that should be part of that narrative.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Love on the Spectrum stars call on RFK Jr. to resign
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 are trying to get their diagnoses erased and canceling doctors' appointments over fears about a national registry. Below is an excerpt of the conversation, edited for length and clarity. There's much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Noel King: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made some comments not long ago about autistic people having limitations. What did you think about what he said? Dani Bowman: It really honestly broke my heart because words like that don't describe reality; they shape it. They can either build people up or tear them down. And the idea that autistic people are automatically a burden? That kind of thinking destroys hope. And let's be clear, this isn't about politics. It's not about being red, blue, or whatever side you're on. It's about the language we use, and how that language either fuels hope or crushes it. We people on the autism spectrum are capable human beings. All we need is a loving push from the support of our friends and family to keep moving forward to independent, fulfilling lives. Noel King: James, what did you think when you heard Secretary Kennedy make those remarks? James B. Jones: Sadly, I was not surprised because he has had a habit of saying things that I feel are very ignorant and uneducated, or, sorry, uninformed is the better word there. So I was not at all pleased. I have been alive for 37 years, so I have many, many years of experience with this matter. 'All we need is a loving push from the support of our friends and family to keep moving forward to independent, fulfilling lives.' Noel King: Do you mean you've heard lots of people criticize autistic people in a way that you think is unnecessary? James B. Jones: Yes, exactly, and I've been in situations where, in the past, my social skills were not as developed as they are now. So through experience, I developed my social skills to the point where they are now. Noel King: The thing about those comments that got a lot of attention was when Secretary Kennedy listed the limitations, as he sees them, of people with autism. Do you believe that you have limitations? Dani Bowman: Of course I do. I do have some certain limitations, and I do have a challenge called verbal apraxia, which means I have a hard time articulating with my words, or sometimes my words come out as word salad. However, as we people on the autism spectrum are working together to challenge these roadblocks, we can make it better. James B. Jones: Of course, everyone has limits. I will confess that some of my limits may perhaps be related to my autism. But I've been able to minimize those limitations and work with them. I certainly must say that the idea that people with autism are incapable of driving vehicles, paying bills, or living independently is completely false. I've had my driver's license for 20 years, since I was 17. I pay practically all of my own expenses, and I work a 40-hour-per-week job with benefits that I've held steadily since 2017. Other than the fact that I still live with my parents, I believe myself to be quite independent and self-sufficient. The fact I still live with my parents is due to factors that are beyond my control, because houses are extremely expensive right now. Dani Bowman: I understand why people might think that we're a burden, but if you had met me as a kid, you wouldn't say that. I didn't speak until I was almost 6, and when I moved in with my aunt and uncle at 11, I barely had any functional language and struggled to connect with anyone. But they didn't see it as a burden. Noel King: Can I ask you guys a sensitive question? James B. Jones: I suppose you may ask. Whether or not we answer is another matter entirely. Noel King: I think that sounds fair. After Secretary Kennedy made those comments, a lot of people were clearly upset, including a lot of people like the two of you who have autism. I also read some essays by parents of kids who are severely autistic, who said, 'This actually does speak to my experience. My kid is really having trouble. And probably won't ever get a job or write a poem or date.' They said, 'Whether I like his position on vaccines, whether or not I think he addressed the issue sensitively enough or not, he is talking about what it's like to be me as a parent of a kid like this.' Do you think that he has a point when it comes to autistic people whose needs are much greater than the two of yours? Dani Bowman: I do have a cousin who is severely autistic, and even though he seemed to be getting better at knowing how to use the restroom by himself, I feel bad for my cousin. There's other nonverbal people on the spectrum that can get a degree. I met this one lady who is nonverbal and is capable of getting a PhD. She uses a communication device. No matter, nonverbal or not, people on the spectrum still need the loving push. Noel King: We talked to a reporter who said, 'One of the distinctive things about Secretary Kennedy is that he said, 'We are going to find what causes autism quickly, and we're gonna do something about it.'' James B. Jones: Ugh, I do not like that at all. For anyone who has studied history, those are very ominous words indeed. The reason that more people are diagnosed with autism is because doctors and psychologists have become more adept at identifying, at diagnosing autism. Plus, of course, people who have autism are now not as afraid to hide their condition, to hide their symptoms as they may have been in ages past. And of course, society is much more accepting of autism in recent years as well. Noel King: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a lot of power. He can order that research be conducted. He can draw attention to the cause. What do you want RFK Jr. to know about you? And what do you want him to do, if anything, about people who live with autism? Dani Bowman: I would say, please listen. Listen to people who actually live this experience. We don't need pity; we need opportunity. We don't need stereotypes; we need understanding. We're not broken; we're just wired differently. And given the chance, we can do incredible things. All we need is just a loving push. 'We don't need pity; we need opportunity. We don't need stereotypes; we need understanding.' James B. Jones: I'll be diplomatic and say I wish Mr. Kennedy would resign from his position. Let someone who's actually competent take that role. That's a lot more diplomatic than what I was originally planning to say. The secretary of Health and Human Services needs to be someone who actually understands these various issues, understands matters of this nature. Yes, we need to provide support mechanisms for people who have autism or similar neurological conditions. People who have autism or similar conditions need special programs that are tailored for them. Every student needs to have their own customized curriculum. Dani Bowman: I definitely agree with what James says. I would have RFK Jr. resign.
Vox
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Vox
Love on the Spectrum stars Dani and James on how RFK Jr. gets autism wrong
Dani, one of the stars of Netflix's Love on the Spectrum, speaks out about RFK Jr.'s controversial comments about autism. Netflix 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. Today, Explained Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day, compiled by news editor Sean Collins. Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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. Below is an excerpt of the conversation, edited for length and clarity. There's much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Noel King: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made some comments not long ago about autistic people having limitations. What did you think about what he said? Dani Bowman: It really honestly broke my heart because words like that don't describe reality; they shape it. They can either build people up or tear them down. And the idea that autistic people are automatically a burden? That kind of thinking destroys hope. And let's be clear, this isn't about politics. It's not about being red, blue, or whatever side you're on. It's about the language we use, and how that language either fuels hope or crushes it. We people on the autism spectrum are capable human beings. All we need is a loving push from the support of our friends and family to keep moving forward to independent, fulfilling lives. Noel King: James, what did you think when you heard Secretary Kennedy make those remarks? James B. Jones: Sadly, I was not surprised because he has had a habit of saying things that I feel are very ignorant and uneducated, or, sorry, uninformed is the better word there. So I was not at all pleased. I have been alive for 37 years, so I have many, many years of experience with this matter. 'All we need is a loving push from the support of our friends and family to keep moving forward to independent, fulfilling lives.' Noel King: Do you mean you've heard lots of people criticize autistic people in a way that you think is unnecessary? James B. Jones: Yes, exactly, and I've been in situations where, in the past, my social skills were not as developed as they are now. So through experience, I developed my social skills to the point where they are now. Noel King: The thing about those comments that got a lot of attention was when Secretary Kennedy listed the limitations, as he sees them, of people with autism. Do you believe that you have limitations? Dani Bowman: Of course I do. I do have some certain limitations, and I do have a challenge called verbal apraxia, which means I have a hard time articulating with my words, or sometimes my words come out as word salad. However, as we people on the autism spectrum are working together to challenge these roadblocks, we can make it better. James B. Jones: Of course, everyone has limits. I will confess that some of my limits may perhaps be related to my autism. But I've been able to minimize those limitations and work with them. I certainly must say that the idea that people with autism are incapable of driving vehicles, paying bills, or living independently is completely false. I've had my driver's license for 20 years, since I was 17. I pay practically all of my own expenses, and I work a 40-hour-per-week job with benefits that I've held steadily since 2017. Other than the fact that I still live with my parents, I believe myself to be quite independent and self-sufficient. The fact I still live with my parents is due to factors that are beyond my control, because houses are extremely expensive right now. Dani Bowman: I understand why people might think that we're a burden, but if you had met me as a kid, you wouldn't say that. I didn't speak until I was almost 6, and when I moved in with my aunt and uncle at 11, I barely had any functional language and struggled to connect with anyone. But they didn't see it as a burden. Noel King: Can I ask you guys a sensitive question? James B. Jones: I suppose you may ask. Whether or not we answer is another matter entirely. Noel King: I think that sounds fair. After Secretary Kennedy made those comments, a lot of people were clearly upset, including a lot of people like the two of you who have autism. I also read some essays by parents of kids who are severely autistic, who said, 'This actually does speak to my experience. My kid is really having trouble. And probably won't ever get a job or write a poem or date.' They said, 'Whether I like his position on vaccines, whether or not I think he addressed the issue sensitively enough or not, he is talking about what it's like to be me as a parent of a kid like this.' Do you think that he has a point when it comes to autistic people whose needs are much greater than the two of yours? Dani Bowman: I do have a cousin who is severely autistic, and even though he seemed to be getting better at knowing how to use the restroom by himself, I feel bad for my cousin. There's other nonverbal people on the spectrum that can get a degree. I met this one lady who is nonverbal and is capable of getting a PhD. She uses a communication device. No matter, nonverbal or not, people on the spectrum still need the loving push. Noel King: We talked to a reporter who said, 'One of the distinctive things about Secretary Kennedy is that he said, 'We are going to find what causes autism quickly, and we're gonna do something about it.'' James B. Jones: Ugh, I do not like that at all. For anyone who has studied history, those are very ominous words indeed. The reason that more people are diagnosed with autism is because doctors and psychologists have become more adept at identifying, at diagnosing autism. Plus, of course, people who have autism are now not as afraid to hide their condition, to hide their symptoms as they may have been in ages past. And of course, society is much more accepting of autism in recent years as well. Noel King: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a lot of power. He can order that research be conducted. He can draw attention to the cause. What do you want RFK Jr. to know about you? And what do you want him to do, if anything, about people who live with autism? Dani Bowman: I would say, please listen. Listen to people who actually live this experience. We don't need pity; we need opportunity. We don't need stereotypes; we need understanding. We're not broken; we're just wired differently. And given the chance, we can do incredible things. All we need is just a loving push. 'We don't need pity; we need opportunity. We don't need stereotypes; we need understanding.' James B. Jones: I'll be diplomatic and say I wish Mr. Kennedy would resign from his position. Let someone who's actually competent take that role. That's a lot more diplomatic than what I was originally planning to say. The secretary of Health and Human Services needs to be someone who actually understands these various issues, understands matters of this nature. Yes, we need to provide support mechanisms for people who have autism or similar neurological conditions. People who have autism or similar conditions need special programs that are tailored for them. Every student needs to have their own customized curriculum.
