To think more people do have autism nowadays?

[malificent7]

Everyone says it's because more people are being diagosed which is true BUT I am waiiting for my assessment , my sdd ( not genetically related) has it and 2 of my close school friends have children with it severely enough so that they can't attend mainstream.
Obviously several members of my family have it as it is genetic but it does seem odd that my 2 close school friends ( who dont have asd) have children with it.

It used to be really very common for men to be obsessed with trains or the canal network. Many women preferred solitary knitting and gardening (or, in my Gran's generation, re-reading the Bible over and over) to social activities. None of those train-spotting, plant-cataloguing people were interested in popular culture, they found "pointless" gatherings stressful and didn't understand most jokes.

There were LOADS of them! So many that they were well-recognised stereotypes, everybody knew several.

During my childhood (1950s-60s) there were also a lot of people who'd been traumatised by WW2 experiences and serious illnesses. Altogether, everyday society was full of people who were strange or hypersensitive in some way. You were expected to work around them. Meanwhile, children with disabilities were deemed ineducable 😢 and taken into residential care. Hundreds are still there.

Society was far less diagnosed and, in a way, more compassionate. But the support structures we've come to expect - flawed as they may still be - didn't exist, so it was very much sink or swim. Many sank, of course.

There does seem to be an excessive number of people being diagnosed with autism of late. I am pretty sure I am autistic. Very shy and self conscious, odd accent etc. I also think it's in my family. I believe my grandad, mum, aunt and sister are all undiagnosed as well as myself.

Not really only 1 in 100 have it. That is hardly excessive.

You think so many people will end up having autism it don't be a divergence from the norm?! I disagree - I'd be shocked if it got above 5% of the population, most likely much lower.

Personally I think there are three things happening: (1) improvements in diagnosis/awareness which means more people are getting diagnosed (this mainly impacts teens/adults), (2) more autistic people meeting and marrying other autistic people and going on to have autistic children, and (3) something leading to an increase in 'severe' autism. Not sure what's causing the latter but I suspect there's no one cause.

Autism is quite strongly linked to having an older father and sperm quality. Parents are older now than in previous generations, so it makes sense if fathers are older we see more autism

Or alternatively, DD is autistic because I formula fed her. Must find a way to blame the mother. Unfortunately my mum breast fed me, so we'll need to find a different way to blame her.

You make a really good point about more autistic people meeting and marrying other autistic people, @maybenormal. In my younger days, the train-spotting men would rarely have met the solitary knitting women. If they married - and a lot of them didn't - they'd be encouraged to find a more 'normal' partner to help them keep functioning in daily life.

It may be that these men are also autistic and have not reproduced in their 20s etc due to finding a partner later in life. So many variables.

I heard a programme on Radio 4 which said that, as more people with high-functioning ASD now live mainstream lives, going to university and having careers, they meet others with ASD, form relationships and have children who, in turn, are more likely to have ASD, so the cycle continues.

How can that figure possibly be accurate? That would mean out of, say, my whole dcs primary school there would be approx 4 kids with autism. It's more like 4 in each class. And that's not counting ADHD diagnosis or waiting on one. I know from speaking to other parents and teaching staff that it's similar in other schools. There doesn't seem to be any slowing down of diagnosis, indeed the opposite, despite the 'catching up' theory.

Sorry- I think it's ASC now?

Scientists are studying environmental influence , they're looking at plastics and other things in the food chain. It's not just about genetics now.

According to the DSM it's ASD.

Latest US stats are ~3% of children diagnosed (4% of boys and 1% of girls - but almost certainly under diagnosis of girls). It's not 1% of population.

https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-statistics-asd

More awareness exists among general population and not just within medical circles. In the 70’s until recently only the most obviously different people were taken for diagnosis. Now it’s more understood. I don’t think autism is that rare we just don’t adequately cater for autistic children in the system so their needs often go unmet leaving them to become distressed.

We’re not in the US

www.beyondautism.org.uk/about-autism/understanding-autism/statistics/

www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/autism-spectrum-disorders

My mother was born in the early 1920’s and wanted me to disguise my son’s issues and say nothing about them. My dad constantly expressed a belief that he could outgrow the issues. I’m convinced that my middle brother has ASD, he did really badly in school and was so let down by it all.
He was severely bullied.
In contrast I worked like crazy with my son to make him as capable as can be with ASD. He will always be disabled but he’s a lot more capable. If my parents had been his parents he would have been hidden away or just left to fend, be bullied at school and fail .

https://www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/population-health/improving-the-health-of-specific-groups/autism-spectrum-disorder

BMA say the same

It is estimated that around 700,000 people in the UK have a diagnosis of autism. One in 100 children in the UK have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. We have raised concerns about the time it takes for diagnosis, as well as specific issues with the support offered in England.

As do the NAS.

When I was having my c section at 38 weeks the Dr offered me the steroid injections to develop the child's lungs. He told me that the steroid injections have been linked to autism and behavioural problems and that I should take that into account. I refused since the baby was full term anyway.

Ah but the US is much better funded research wise.

Either ways the figures aren’t “excesssive.”

How Wicked of the doctor and nurse to make both these statements to a pregnant woman.

Prem babies receive steroids for a damn good reason.

C sections save lives sometimes.

People used to be called odd, quiet, etc in the past

I haven't read the entire thread so apologies if this has already been said.

I think the percentage of ND is probably the same, but (a) we are more aware of it now and (b) current lifestyles trigger it more, whereas it might have gone under the radar more easily.

My reasons for saying this are:-

My son is ND, he was far better as a small child on "down days" i.e. playing at home with his toys rather than being out at soft play etc. too many days out were definitely an issue.
So my typical childhood day was good for him. He definitely struggled with expectation that kids are constantly taken out rather than allowed to stay home and just play with toys.

At school, especially secondary, it is so geared to academic achievement. All the hands on practical stuff geared towards kids less academic has gone. When I was at school the less academic were often out and about on local farms etc., learning practical skills.

The job market is totally different, a lot of office work is based around computers, geared to inputting info correctly. Large companies has post rooms, messengers, tea ladies, filing clerks, a plethora of openings that would give someone an "in" to a company to allow them progress at their speed. That's all gone.

It was hard to find a job for my ND son. He has found his niche and, at the moment, is ticking by. It's not well paid, but it's a job.

There are other examples, but you get the jist. Life was less stressful and more manageable in years gone by, so a lot of ND kids and adults could find their niche, tick on by, and just went under the radar.

I'll try and find the research - I think it's more to do with sperm quality declining with age. Men over 40 are basically significantly more likely to have autistic children