William Barnett launched his YouTube channel to showcase his musical talent. But in the face of Donald Trump's untimely speeches on autism, he's now also using it to denounce the comments of the American president and his Secretary of Health, Robert Kennedy Jr.

"It led many autistic people to believe that they had a problem and didn't really have a place in society," says the 29-year-old composer, who himself has autism spectrum disorder.

"I just wonder if they don't see us all as pawns," he says from his apartment in Queens, New York.

Donald Trump and vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy Jr., who call autism a "horror" or a health "crisis," have argued, contrary to scientific consensus, that it could be linked to vaccines or acetaminophen.

Mr. Barnett said these comments only fuel fear among parents and stigmatize people like him.

- "Second family" -

Autism is a broad-spectrum neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by varying difficulties in communication, behavior, and social interaction.

According to the World Health Organization, a combination of genetic and environmental factors is likely to be the cause. Cases have increased in recent decades in the United States and other Western countries, mainly due to improved diagnostic methods, experts say.

William Barnett was diagnosed around the age of 3. Growing up, "I kept wondering what my life would be like if I had been neurotypical," meaning someone with neurological functioning considered typical, he says. "I just wanted to be normal."

As an adult, a graduate and living his passion, he sees it as an asset, particularly with his "second family" in the New York association Autistic Adults NYC.

Led by autistic adults, it recently participated in a pride march dedicated to people with disabilities.

Sebastian Bonvissuto, 26, who was present in the march, said he was "angry" and "frustrated" by the Trump administration: "They treat us as if we don't count in society."

"It's difficult," said Maryum Gardner, 26, who was also present, who considered the remarks "dangerous." "No matter who you are," she insisted, "you deserve to be treated like a human being."

- "Not a tragedy" -

For them, as for others interviewed by AFP, the American government should work to better fund services for people with autism if it really wants to improve things.

While acknowledging that many people suffer from difficulties far more pronounced than his own, William Barnett emphasizes the risk of "overgeneralization" of autism by the Trump administration.

The disorder is indeed very broad, with some people needing significant care and assistance throughout their lives, while others are able to live independently.

"My struggles go beyond what you see on screen or how I present myself in public," he says, adding that he feels very fortunate because he has benefited from years of speech and occupational therapy, as well as socialization classes.

Mr. Barnett worked in particular with Elizabeth Laugeson, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles.

For this specialist, the rhetoric used by the White House regarding autism is centered on the idea of "cure" and recalls a "dark past."

"We've made a lot of progress, and now I feel like we're going backwards," she told AFP.

“Autism is not a tragedy or something that needs to be fixed for many people,” she explains. “It’s a neurodevelopmental difference” that “is part of human diversity.”