Cold Hard Truths: RFK Jr., IDEA, and More Dogs

Julianna and Kelley tackle RFK Jr.'s latest claim connecting circumcision and autism through Tylenol use, dissecting the contradictions in his ongoing theories. They explore concerns about potential Department of Education cuts and their impact on IDEA compliance, emphasizing that only six states currently meet requirements. The hosts provide practical advice for parents to protect their children's educational rights by going local and understanding state-level entitlements. The episode concludes with a passionate defense of their recommendation for Labs and Goldens as therapy dogs for autistic children, explaining the importance of predictability when families face so many variables.

Key Takeaways

• RFK Jr.'s circumcision-autism claim contradicts his previous Tylenol theory.
• Only 15% of U.S. public school students receive services under IDEA.
• Six states have met IDEA requirements in the past decade.
• Go local: Know what your school district, regional center, and state provide.
• Understand your entitlements including deadlines and timelines.
• Labs and Goldens offer calm nature, intelligence, and trainability.
• Research your breeder carefully when selecting a purebred dog.
• Reducing variables matters when parenting a child with special needs

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Creators and Guests

Guest

Julianna Scott

Guest

Kelley Jensen

What is Refrigerator Moms?

Born from 20 years of friendship, during which they navigated the trenches of autism parenting and advocacy, the Refrigerator Moms is Kelley Jensen and Julianna Scott’s way of reaching out to parents waging the same battles they were.  Their purpose with this podcast is to clear the fog, silence the noise, and find a path through neurodivergence for parents that are stuck between bad choices. They tackle parenting topics such as mom guilt, tantrums, pathological demand avoidance, siblings, medication, comorbidities, social media, and much more. 

[Julianna Scott] (0:07 - 0:23)
Hi, I'm Julianna Scott, and I'm here with my friend Kelley Jensen, and we are the Refrigerator Moms. A few weeks ago, we covered the press conference about Tylenol and autism. Yes.

[Kelley Jensen] (0:24 - 0:32)
And then lo and behold, my inbox was full again, and my phone kept buzzing. And I'm like, oh my God, what did he say now? And what did he say now?

[Julianna Scott] (0:32 - 0:47)
I'll tell you what he said. So it was a cabinet meeting this time. RFK Jr. piped in and said, there are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. And he said it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol.

[Kelley Jensen] (0:48 - 0:50)
Wait, but I thought the Tylenol thing was in utero.

[Julianna Scott] (0:51 - 0:55)
I know. Again, Tylenol is just thrown under the bus.

[Kelley Jensen] (0:55 - 0:56)
I'm so confused.

[Julianna Scott] (0:56 - 1:07)
And yeah, I'm just not sure. When is the Tylenol doing the damage? I guess this is now a second opportunity for the autism.

And then what about the girls?

[Kelley Jensen] (1:07 - 2:29)
What about girls? What about the rates of increasing girls that are not circumcised, right? Girls are not circumcised.

Not in this country. I mean, you cannot keep up with this guy. It's baffling.

And beyond parity. I know. And if you took it seriously, we can't help you.

I cannot help you. Also take it with a grain of salt and try to find the humor in it. That's all we got at this point.

That's all we got. I can only find the humor in it. This episode of The Refrigerator Moms is brought to you by Brain Performance Technologies.

Brain Performance Technologies is a specialty mental health clinic that offers neuromodulation treatments, including their latest protocol, SAINT. SAINT, or Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy, was developed at the Stanford Brain Stimulation Lab to provide rapid and lasting relief for patients struggling with treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder. SAINT delivers amazing results after only five days of treatment, including a 79% remission rate.

The team at Brain Performance Technologies is licensed and trained to offer this protocol to qualifying patients. Something that is not funny and hard to find the humor in is the Department of Education. So tell everybody what's going on with that.

[Julianna Scott] (2:29 - 3:58)
Yes. The Department of Education, it has been kind of on the agenda of the administration to eliminate the Department of Education. What some people might not know is that the department's Office of Special Education Programs is part of the cuts.

And what they are primarily tasked to do is check that states are in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act created by Congress in 1975. States are still responsible, as I understand it, states are still responsible for providing these services and the federal level, they are supposed to enforce compliance. And they haven't done a great job.

And so I understand the concern, and there has been a wave of concern. I know my inbox has been flooded from organizations that I belong to for parents of those with special needs. And it's just like, you know, write your congressperson, all these things.

And it did have us talking and kind of saying like, OK, we're running around with our hair on fire about it. What is really going to change? What is the situation?

It is true. These cuts are being made. What would the impact be?

Well, we're not exactly sure. But what we can tell is the what is the impact of their checking on the compliance now. So I did look at where schools stand now as well as of 2023.

The data I found. Oh, go ahead. Let me just make sure that I understand this correctly.

[Kelley Jensen] (3:58 - 4:51)
So the idea, Individuals with Disabilities and Education Act in 1975 established a federal department. The federal government does not run schools, but we have a Department of Education that oversees and assists states in running their education programs. And up until 1975, there was no provision for schools to include children with disabilities, which is why almost all of them were not in school prior to 1970.

And then it probably took about 10 more years to really infiltrate for schools to catch up and get in line with this new policy set out by the federal government. The federal government is supposed to allocate funds to help schools manage these programs. And some states do a better job and get more money than other states.

[Julianna Scott] (4:51 - 5:40)
There's no question that IDEA was a landmark case, so that landmark decision to make. To implement IDEA was very important because it did get people out of institutions and into schools. Out of their homes.

Out of their homes, into schools. It definitely started the movement to include autistic children. Very very important and that's why we now see them and we didn't see them before 1975.

So if you're looking for people in their 70s walking around your mall, you might not have seen them because IDEA, you know, that hadn't happened yet. Exactly. Now we move forward to the present, 2023, where 15% of the U.S. public school students receive services under IDEA. So it's 15% and in the past 15 years only a handful of states have consistently met IDEA requirements. Wow.

[Kelley Jensen] (5:40 - 5:42)
So there's no real teeth in IDEA anymore anyway.

[Julianna Scott] (5:43 - 7:03)
So only in 2023, only six states have met IDEA requirements for their Part B in the past 10 years. So again, this isn't great. So before we all, you know, totally freak out, which is easy to do, it's a scary thing to read a headline because again, we parents have worked so hard to get these things.

So I understand the that, you know, when something is taken away that, you know, that you fought so hard for that is very difficult. So I get it. I know for me, when I start to freak out about this stuff, I think, OK, I start to think in my world, what can I do?

Go local, go local. And for going local for us, it's like know what you are entitled to in your school district, your regional center, your county, your county, your state. So find out what you're entitled to, because if your school district isn't compliant, like a lot of people need to file claims at the federal level.

And this isn't easy to do. So you've got to really look locally and make sure that you are getting what you're entitled to there and fight those fights.

[Kelley Jensen] (7:04 - 7:36)
And also, if you're concerned, idea is going away. Again, go local, go to your county. If you get services to the regional center, start with them as a resource for what you are entitled to, what your state plans to do.

Write your local, your state representatives and ask them how they plan to pick up any difference that will be left if something happens to idea. Look at charter schools, look at voucher programs some states have. But do your research at the local level of if all else fails, where will this leave my child in the future from my state?

[Julianna Scott] (7:37 - 8:04)
I would argue that regardless of what happens, you should know that stuff anyway. 100 percent. This was never a factor when my son was in our local school district.

And I was always looking to see, you know, what was he entitled to? What were the, you know, there's deadlines and timelines and all of those things. What is he, you know, a free and appropriate education?

So what will they pay for it?

[Kelley Jensen] (8:04 - 8:07)
We've had we had many conversations, you and I.

[Julianna Scott] (8:07 - 8:13)
Absolutely. And it's not easy. You have to really pay attention and untangle these things.

[Kelley Jensen] (8:14 - 8:24)
School and autism are very hard. Very, very not just autism and any disability. It's a very hard thing.

But, you know, keep keep up with the information.

[Julianna Scott] (8:24 - 10:47)
Keep fighting. Go local. This episode of The Refrigerator Moms is brought to you by Brain Performance Technologies.

Brain Performance Technologies is a specialty mental health clinic that offers magnetic e-residence therapy or MERT for autistic people aged three or older. MERT is a transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol that utilizes an EEG diagnostic to deliver personalized magnetic pulses to stimulate the brain and build neural pathways effective in managing autistic symptoms. OK, the final thing we want to talk about.

So we got a lot of comments. And I predicted this. I 100 percent predicted this.

We got a lot of comments about our comments about dogs. I mean, children with disabilities is one thing, but the dogs, people will come for you over dogs and pets in general. I am going to we we're going to double down.

So I said what I said. I stand by our comments that if you're looking for a dog that is for your family, when you have a child with special needs and you want that dog to be a calming influence, a natural at being like a home therapy dog, you aren't going to do better than a lab or a golden. And there's a reason why those dogs are chosen.

I even looked it up. I mean, because I again, people come for me and I'm just like, all right. OK, I'll see what you have to say.

I'm googling, you know, should autistic kids have mixed breed dogs for therapy, all this stuff, your comment. And I read Austin Society board member researcher. Here's the thing.

These are why labs and Goldens are best. They're calm nature. Yes, their intelligence.

Yes, their size. Yep. Their sturdiness.

Yep. I've had an Italian Greyhound, not sturdy. Their work ethic, their trainability.

They're outgoing, eager to please, they're observant. They're affectionate and they need they need to be gentle and patient and responsive to emotional needs. And the thing is, I'm not saying there's also the comment like you can get a purebred dog at a shelter.

Yes. Yeah. I mean, honestly, can you really find a purebred lab at a shelter?

I mean, OK, come for me. Come for me like they get scooped up for these reasons.

[Kelley Jensen] (10:47 - 10:48)
Right. Right.

[Julianna Scott] (10:48 - 10:50)
If you can find one, great.

[Kelley Jensen] (10:50 - 10:51)
You're right. Get one. Right.

[Julianna Scott] (10:51 - 11:01)
Like I'm and I'm not saying that. But and research your breeder. I'm not saying every breeder.

Yes. No research your breeder. You know, that's very important.

[Kelley Jensen] (11:01 - 11:07)
Well, and then also a couple of people say, well, a dog that's a purebred can have behavior problems, too.

[Julianna Scott] (11:07 - 11:08)
Sure. Yes.

[Kelley Jensen] (11:08 - 11:16)
They can. Yes. And but you want any odds that the odds of a dog you've rescued and you don't know what their trauma, what their past trauma was.

[Julianna Scott] (11:16 - 11:56)
Or maybe they don't have a past trauma. Maybe they're just, you know, maybe they're a little puppy and they have no trauma, but just like a cards on the table. I have a purebred mini schnauzer.

How dare you? I know. And he is very fancy.

He is. I he he would be a terrible dog for an autistic child, you know, because he could care less. Yeah.

He's doing his thing. He's independent. And that's why we love him.

He's independent. He's spunky. He's doing all those things.

Doesn't shed. Number one on my list after having labs. You know, the labs, the labs, the whole thing.

[Kelley Jensen] (11:56 - 11:56)
Yes.

[Julianna Scott] (11:56 - 11:58)
We still have lab hair.

[Kelley Jensen] (11:58 - 11:58)
Yeah.

[Julianna Scott] (11:59 - 12:32)
But McGruff is not a service animal. Right. But yeah, he's doing his own thing.

He has his personality, which is hardwired mini schnauzer personality. And so you're looking for those personality traits as well. And again, I've had a purebred lab and she has all of these things listed.

Plus hair. Plus the hair. Also, I want to stress again.

I have adopted many dogs, some without eyes, some without eyes. Yes.

[Kelley Jensen] (12:32 - 12:43)
You have you have been made a valiant effort at the Don't Shop Adopt mantra. You have done your so the the the irony of them coming for you.

[Julianna Scott] (12:43 - 12:52)
I know it's that's a little rough. I do. I'm a little offended about that part because you've done your part.

[Kelley Jensen] (12:52 - 12:53)
You've done your part.

[Julianna Scott] (12:53 - 13:45)
I've had deaf, blind, health problems. I list Alopecia. That one actually wasn't bad.

No hair. But the dog thing, don't please don't come for us anymore. I don't like it.

And don't come for parents that are trying to get something to help their family. OK, that was that was the point. Yeah.

But my last point was a lot of the comments. I didn't see them saying, like, well, I have a kid with autism and my mixed breed was blah, blah, blah. These no one identified themselves as a parent with somebody with a child with special needs.

Right. And I I'm going to play the card. Yeah, I'm going to play the special needs card.

Yeah. You don't want more variables. Yeah, you don't want more variables.

You don't want it to be harder. You need something predictable in this very unpredictable space.

[Kelley Jensen] (13:45 - 13:58)
And don't write saying that you can get a purebred and tell us about your lab that you had that went crazy and bid everybody. Yes, that can happen. Yes.

No, that is not the odds.

[Julianna Scott] (13:59 - 15:05)
No, no, I even look that up. Labs are way down on the list of dogs who bite way down there. But respect to dog lovers, respect, peace, love and respect to dog lovers.

Of course, I count myself one of you. But yeah, absolutely. Thanks for listening.

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