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?

I used to find it satisfying to flap my mittens when I was walking out and about - fingers curled back and the ends of the mittens flapping, if you understand what I mean.

Mum: "Don't do that! People will think there's something wrong with you!"

I'm told that my mother literally hid behind her mother's skirts when she was a child.

Right so my child also gets,high rate care,and,high rate mobility and,we have,a,mobility car I get cares,allowance and universal credit ,to get such high rates
The,child,will.have,significant and complex,needs,my son is,14 cannot talk.at all.can only communicate in a very basic way he goes,to a,school.for children with severe and profound learning disabilities and autism hes,cognitively around 2/3 you would you think.I wouldn't give the DLA,up.in a,heartbeat if he could live a,normal life ?,

School didn't work for me in the 90s. I was a regular truant and with very little understanding of myself I needed the adults to protect and help me. They didn't. They punished me

My own DD is home educated now for the same reason.

The difference is I asked 'why' is she behaving like this. My parents punished me, as did the school.

In my parents generation they were put in institutes or they would work the farm they were kept away from others and not allowed relationships etc my husbands uncle was kept at home "looking after" his mother until she died he died a year or so after her because he could barely look after himself

It doesn't get worse with every generation, no. The reason you think this is because the times when it does are more likely to result in no more descendants. You're not seeing a balanced sample.

Perhaps all these variations are actually different conditions but are just all being grouped under the name of autism for lack of an identified diagnosis? I mean autism seems to encompass everything from young women dancing on tiktok to a list of their symptoms to people affected so badly that they are non verbal, unable to live independently etc. Perhaps they are actually completely different conditions?

I think we need some well funded, proper research. We need to discuss this topic more widely. Most people are cautious around the subject but clearly sen provision is severely lacking and will in only get worse.

"Like attracts like"

True. I met some of my best friends on a Doctor Who forum. Two of them got married.

My late husband used to wind me up about watching Doctor Who, but he'd sit and watch with me. Now that he's gone, the penny has dropped with me. He couldn't stand to eat certain textures: nothing jellied, for example.

He also exhibited hyperfocus. He taught himself to play various musical instruments. In his late 50s, he started going to martial arts classes. He got his black belt in his mid 60s.

I had a chance encounter with a former pupil today - he remarked on our conversations about Doctor Who when he was at school...

He introduced me to his wife, whom he met at a convention.

Once upon a time a significant proportion of childhood would have been spent outside, giving more opportunities for being very active, and no screens.

Diet would have been much simpler and predictable, and also organic.

Children would have started work earlier, so less expectation of being tied to desks learning in a very fixed way.

Anecdotal example in our case. My child seems more impacted than his dad. I'd never actually have realised or considered it ref my ex partner if it hadn't shown up with our child and his children with second partner. I really don't know if this theory you have seen in your own experience is actually something one can prove.

I agree with a poster who talked about more open SEN behaviour in this generation. So son's dad either trained himself or was trained by society to mask and find a way to 'pass'. My son, now diagnosed, now it's talked about openly and more acceptable, does do things in my presence that are obviously different. Its a bit more acceptable at school to be quirky, loads of kids with sensory gadgets etc. If living in the era of my generation, I believe my son would have masked even more than he does now so might appear less ' different '

Well very ‘severely’ autistic adults (as in, their autism causes significant disability) are extremely unlikely to have children, so you’re way more likely to see a more ‘high functioning’ autistic parent with a more severely affected child than vice versa.

This is nonsense

.. so it’s maybe epigenetic? Ie the food additive somehow triggers the expression of genes that would otherwise have been dormant.?
I don’t really understand the links with environment and autism.

Temple Grandin's book is really fascinating. She cites some more recent research wherein there are demonstrable differences in particular structures within the brain shown on scans when comparing her brain to NT controls.

Because years ago it was only recognised in severe cases, the more high functioning autistic children basically had to learn to mask and adapt. They would routinely be recognised as classmates as the ‘strange kid’, but there was no extra support for these children as it wasn’t recognised they had a condition. They were just the odd kids, or the kids with the very particular interests or strange habits.
Once the condition became more widely recognised at less severe ends of the spectrum, it became more acceptable to be authentic and the need to mask became less.
I do believe there are downsides to this, as masking and adapting to a certain extent are needed to function in society.

When people say severe autism, what they often mean is autism with co-occurring learning disabilities, cognitive impairments or genetic conditions. Parents are getting older, which may be a factor.

I'm not sure that autism itself is getting more "severe" as such, but we are certainly identifying and diagnosing multiple and complex conditions more. And there are more kids in mainstream school who wouldn't have been when I was growing up, they'd have been educated in special schools as they were then. In my mum's home country, kids with learning disabilities would have mostly been institutionalised, you wouldn't really have seen them much. And they died younger. But now, kids with disabilities are more visible. There's more understanding of autism now, as others who I'd imagine are Gen Xers like me have said, autistic behaviours were punished out of us, so you couldn't stim, you squashed the anxiety, tried to mask, etc.

Different ways of raising ND children now so they mask less?

So firstly severely autistic people are less likely to procreate so as there is a genetic link it's the autistic people who are capable of forming relationships who have children and their children maybe similarly affected or their autism may be more severe.

Secondly I think there's a reasonable argument that todays society is less suited to autistic people. Fifty years ago the autistic child would have either skipped school and stayed home nurturing their hobbies today they are forced to attend mainstream school with a promise of support that usually leads to them having to learn to fit in.

Thirdly and I'll give myself as an example. I'm autistic I grew up getting belted if I stepped out of line. I was forced to eat foods that made me vomit. I was forced to conform It left me with an ability to hide my feelings, not react even if something is painful for me and a crippling desire to please others. I managed to get through school (was bullied throughout) get a job and get married and have kids. I was abused in my marriage and at work because I didn't know how to be different. I had a breakdown and eventually put myself back together and learnt through research and self development that I was autistic. That it's not normal to be on physical pain from lights, movement, noise and that I shouldn't have to endure painful experiences. My son is arguably more autistic than me but he gets to be himself, he is accepted (at home at least) for who he is. . Does that make his traits more obvious? If he was beaten and shamed like I was would he be 'less' autistic maybe he would but I know what I prefer for him.

Same in mine, some high functioning, some moderate functioning, some low functioning and the rest no asd.
Oh @eastereggg I'm high-moderate functioning (same as my dh was) ds moderate-low functioning and dd no asd.

Absolutely.

Please stop talking about food chemicals causing autism.

I'm sure most people can contemplate the real possibility that food and diet can exacerbate some issues with those who have ADHD. ( I do see a link between excess sugar, food colouring and hyperactivity in my son). I have absolutely no doubt however that there is a significant genetic inheritance factor where one parent is ND in any way. I don't believe eating certain food sets it off and this is a dangerous mind set in my view.

Autism is due to chemicals in the food chain

is it ?

That said both DH and myself are probably autistic and have autistic children, one who is probably seen as more high functioning and the other who has to go to a special school and has significant delays.

It’s a very sensitive subject but I do wish discussion into autism and possible causes wasn’t so controversial and shut down so quickly. We don’t even really understand properly what autism IS- it’s defined by its symptoms. I find theories and research fascinating, there’s definitely a genetic factor but I believe potentially other causes.

Please do show or give sources for these studies. It's BS. Sorry. One of my children is autistic. He's awesome by the way. His brain is amazing. Some of life I wish came easier to him but he's can reach a much deeper joy in life than his NT siblings a lot of the time.

Same diet for all three of my pregnancies. Breast fed all 3. He's just more like his dad!

I HATE these "studies" that try to find reasons for a different brain type. It's so offensive!

I'm diagnosed as well but I'm all for discussions on possible causes for an increase in diagnosed cases. I don't think it's offensive, there's clearly something going on whether just a widening of the diagnostic criteria, or an actual increase in cases.