To think more people do have autism nowadays?

I really don’t know OP. I know that it’s genetic in the vast majority of cases. My DS is delayed in his speech and communication and there has been a question mark for a while over whether we should pursue an autism diagnosis. I know that he will be absolutely fine (with the right support) regardless of a diagnosis and he would definitely have been a child that was just “quirky/delayed/just a typical late talking boy” 30 years ago.

However, I’ve joined a couple of support groups and what’s interesting is that in America, they are much more on the ball with early interventions and diagnose extremely young in a lot of cases (like 18 months) and when falling down a Google rabbit hole, I came across an article that claimed something like 70% of autistic kids in the US had “recovered” from their autism by the time they were adults. Obviously it’s a load of rubbish as autism is not something that can be cured but it does make me wonder if there are more cases of misdiagnosis especially when looking at very young children.

I always think it's a mix of factors; more commonly diagnosed, life expectations have changed meaning neu diverse people are more likely to struggle than in the past, bringing symptoms to light, and a likely increase in prevalence.

FWIW though, my child is awaiting diagnosis. I was diagnosed in my 20s having gone through childhood as a slightly anxious, sensitive kid (would definitely be diagnosed as a child now). My older brother was 'slow' and a bit 'awkward'. He doesn't have a diagnosis and would vehemently disagree, but he is definitely autistic. My dad was considered a 'difficult' person, but based on current autistic diagnostic criteria, was almost certainly so. I even wonder about my mum, who 'lived on her nerves', and spent her life avoiding new things, doing household chores in the same day and being incredibly rigid about mealtimes. My point is, everyone was just accepted as a 'a bit' something or other. My parents grew up in small communities, had predictable lives and mixed with relative small pools of people. They weren't challenged in the same way as children now, which meant their 'differences' were perhaps less obvious and less "problematic" to them.

I grew up in a small community, I can think of two children in my class who were probably autistic (not including me who definitely went under the radar) there were probably a couple more who just hid it well enough. I wouldn't have seen any children not in mainstream.

Now as an adult I have access to a bigger community of people so as well as me, my son , the other two diagnosed children in sons class. I'm aware through friends, through my job, on support groups that there are lots more asd people than I realised.

I think it's partly due to better diagnosis/awareness and partly due to being more enmeshed in the autistic community . I also feel there's something around the world we live in being more demanding and full on which means children who would have coped in earlier generations are not coping in ours and also there's children who would have been beaten for meltdowns etc so had to find coping mechanisms.

Well there are a few now known gene mutations that cause it. (CACNA) this is a fairly recent mutation which is dominant and 50% chance of being inherited. So as time goes on the number of individuals with it will increase.

But it is also more recognised. My great auntie was known as crazy madge and my great uncle never left the house, didn't speak and when my dad would visit he would silently play chess. These days they would probably be diagnosed with something but back then they were just avoided.

I know it is due to more awareness, and only the high needs autism being diagnosed in the past. So presumably it makes sense that the proportion is much higher than previously thought, also that many people in 30s/40s are now realising its why they are struggling..

But yes I've also wondered as in one of my friendship groups they always thought me and my duaghter as being the "quirky" ones but now all 4 of us have at least one kid that's autistic...

Is that really true? Have you got a link to the research proving that?

Yes, linked to people having children much later in life (mothers & fathers). You can look it up.

2 DC in my house out of 3 have autism and they have not a single biological parent in common. 3rd DC is related to both but too young to know yet.

Of the ten good friends I have, two have autistic children who'll need lifelong 24/7 care and four have autistic children who are in mainstream either extra support, three of which are struggling. All children were born in the last 13 years. None of the parents have been diagnosed as far as I know, not yet anyway.

People with severely disabled children would have been ashamed and not said anything, so you wouldn't have necessarily known. And others would have been 'a bit different' but wouldn't have received any diagnosis.

Or that there maybe nd in their families.

Neurodivergant people are often drawn to each other . So that would explain why your two friends maybe nd as well.

I think that only severe autism used to be recognised so it seems like there's more people with it now but really it's that awareness has increased