To think autism gets worse with each generation

[eastereggg]

Genuine question.

Why does it seem that autism gets worse with each generation?

Example: a mother is a late diagnosed autistic but her child is very clearly autistic and displays much more severe characteristics than she did. The grandmother would probably be diagnosed autistic today as well.

There seems to be a recurring pattern that I'm seeing where autism is getting more severe with each generation. Is there an explanation for this?

It’s the second part that isn’t true. Having a job, family and friends does not mean one can’t have a substantial impairment (even though that isn’t the wording used now).

Read it again - that's not what she said, she just disagreed (rightly) with the assertion that most autistic people don't have those things.

That's not remotely the same thing.

That's not what I said.

It's important to be aware, of course, that many autistic people weren't diagnosed more than a decade ago! I'm 37 and only recently realised I'm autistic, as is my husband, when our son was diagnosed! There is far more awareness now.

That’s good news @BrightYellowTrain to be fair I don’t check on life expectancies regularly, I was remembering a study I read some time ago.

@Worriedmotheroftwo I did a quick google and it appears according to the national autistic society (who I don’t actually rate but seem to be well regarded here) the employment rate is 22% so most are unemployed.

The presumption and dismissiveness of the certain posters of the unseen and private struggles of people successfully masking and presenting as ‘normal’ is fucking unbelievable , isn’t it?

Surely that's only for autistic people diagnosed on the NHS? I'm autistic and in work (in fact, my husband and I both have very successful careers). The NAS has no way at all of knowing I'm autistic (diagnoaed privately), so I'm not included in their statistics. In fact, one could suggest that many people who have careers may have chosen to be diagnosed privately... which hugely skews the data, does it not? Happy to be proven wrong as this is very interesting...

Absolutely.

This.

It can be very disabling
The individuals with lessor effects on their life and an work have relationships great lives are a world away from individuals who aren't able to toilet themselves, need very high level of support with violence and self harm are the forgotten ones.

The Buckland Review commissioned by the government from earlier this year shows 3 in 10 autistic people are in work. This is lower than 5 in 10 disabled people as a whole population and lower than the 8 in 10 for non-disabled people.

This doesn’t significantly increase even for people who are capable of university. Research found autistic graduates are twice as likely to be unemployed after 15 months compared to non-disabled graduates. Only 36% found full time work.

This. The spectrum is vast.

That's interesting - does the review state where their data has come from regarding who is autistic? I know many studies I have read previously rely on NHS data and don't have access to the private data (and obviously as many wealthier people- with jobs - may be more likely to get a private diagnosis, that's a major issue with data like this). I have a PhD in Education and when we were looking at SEN, this was always a stumbling block in our research - so much data gets omitted.

Think you are mixing in co-occurring intellectual disabilities.

I’m not sure. I haven’t looked at its data collection in that much detail. You can read more here and here.

Almost none of us have "great lives". Even the ones who look like they have great lives are only showing part of it - the whole point is that it's a condition that hides itself, by definition.

Yes, I am (with accommodations) able to live a semblance of a fulfilling life as compared with someone whose deficits are in more basic areas, but to characterise it as a "great" life relative to someone who's not autistic would be a gross overstatement at best, and wilfully ignorant at worst.

Yes . I worked with an autistic chap who needed support at work but he has 3 autistic children who can't function at all . They all seem to live in their bedrooms and have a huge amount of external agency support.
I don't know if it's generational but certainly in this example the children were more severely affected .

I think at least part of it is that there is (rightly so) no shame in having autism anymore. My MIL took great pride in that dh made it all the way to adulthood before being diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome. I remember a lot of parents encouraging their children to mask, to appear "normal" in public.

Or adults are just more used to masking than children are?

Thanks. Most studies like this only use NHS data as researchers seldom have access to much else, so, with my researcher hat on, I'm always very suspicious as the 'reality' is likely to be extremely different. My husband and I will not he included in the statistic you quoted, for instance, and it is likely that the many autistic people we know (who all have jobs by the way) are not either, as I know quite a few went private for a diagnosis (as they could easily afford to). Always worth interrogating the data.

Yes - I think there is still SOME shame (to some), but far far far less then there used to be. I wish I was diagnosed as a child!

Even more so if the parents make a you tube channel out of their children. ( It shouldn’t be allowed as the children can’t consent)

I’ve seen this far more from American families, and whilst I agree with you I have sympathy with some families as a YouTube or tiktok account can be helpful to supplement income and pay off medical bills.
In the UK, despite those of us with disabled dc apparently rolling in it 🙄 there is also a big issue with costs exceeding income, so vlogging daily life and getting some money in return must be tempting.

Some, though not all, adults with a private diagnosis will have it recorded via their GP records, especially where it is relevant to other MH problems people may have.

I understand what the poster was saying regards impairment appearing more significant for one compared to another.

Only Autistic people themselves can know and even then a seemingly ' doing great' Autistic person with family and job only knows how life is for them.

It made me really think when the poster said no Autistic person is actually doing great. The problem with being Autistic is how very hidden so many struggles are and then downplayed. I think of the overwhelming stress of school for mine and so many others who seem to be coasting along just fine and therefore not seen as disabled and left to really suffer.

It's important to consider this word disabled because I initially felt it was patronising and a dis service to some, like my son, but as time goes on I think yes you're incredibly disabled by this.

I can understand why no one wishes to be associated with Asperger's. My son would have had that diagnosis before but it doesn't sit right at all for me so glad that's gone. But yes, the current basic 3 level categorisation doesn't quite do justice really to the vast struggles.

Perhaps if a child has been brought up by someone who displays autistic behaviour they may be worse - nature or nurture… could be self-perpetuating?

I haven't read all the thread, but I believe that our lifestyles now make autism more obvious.

I have said this on another thread, my DS is ND. When he was a child I had friends who took their kids here there and everywhere, it was a very rare day they weren't out. He couldn't handle that, his best days were days at home, playing with his toys or digging holes in the garden. When I was a child, this was typical day for most kids.

Kids being in nursery all the time, constant stimulation, screens etc. Then as you get older, school is far more academic. Gone are the days when there was a curriculum aimed at non-academic kids, practical skills.

Then when you leave school, all the basic jobs - post room, filing clerk, tea boy etc., all long gone. Now you need a degree to fart.

The were always people with ND but life was easier to negotiate, it was easier to find your niche and many flew under the radar, whether it was by luck or judgement.

Thank you for taking the time :)

The issue with the Level 1/2/3 categorisation is that it was specifically designed around the US healthcare system, specifically insurance. It also doesn't account for the changes-over-time issue; if I'd been diagnosed as a child, I would've been Level 1. Diagnosed as an adult in mid-life, I fall under Level 1 some of the time and Level 2 most of the time. 7 or 8 years ago, that split would've been 50/50.

A lot of the problem, I think, is that folk try to put autism in the same box as other neurological conditions or illnesses, whereas it's very much a unique condition that defies that kind of categorisation. On top of that, comorbid conditions have a vastly exaggerated effect when combined with autism compared to when they appear on their own, which makes an already complex problem even more so.