Autism rates gone up 12 times in 30 years

[stillenacht]

Why for the love of God can't we get any answers as to why?????????

here

Is it because there was (diagnostically) practically no such thing as autism 30 years ago and the kids were just written off?

But autism has been diagnosed since the late 40s... i don't think its all down to a fact there is more diagnosis nowadays of course in part it is... i think that it is a convenient excuse for those who know whats going on in our environment and bow that is affecting all of us..grrrrr am hopping mad about all of this..

how not bow

I think you might be right nickytwotimes. I do not think there was much emphasise on it 30 years ago and people with autism were probably just classed as having "something wrong with them" and sent to an institition.

After reading that I am not really surprised at families not asking for a proper diagnosis if it meant it was going to be blamed on the mother, it was probably much easier to just dismiss it!

gorionine - i agree to a certain point and know all about the refrigerator mother thing but its such a massive hike...12 times...

I think 40 years ago, autism was defined from the people at the very severe end of the spectrum

certainly, when I was a child, someone autistic was someone who was virtually unable to communicate

anyone else was eccentric or naughty or badly brought up or a bit of a lone wolf

I was chatting to someone who works with dc with autism in the park about this the other day. (Yes, I know, it's not very scientific!) I asked her whether she felt it was down to better diagnosis and she didn't think so.

Part of it must be as a result of awareness and diagnosis but the increase is just sooo high.

Btw, I'm not saying that is the whole story, but maybe it is a significant factor? Seriously though, I know little about the subject other than what I have picked up second hand from DH who teaches autistic children.

Yes, cory, I agree, there used to be kids who were just quiet/loners/eccentric.

I have a LF autistic son and live my life with autism everyday - my sons school is having to expand surely not down to more diagnosis alone....

I think it would be interesting for someone to look at currently diagnosed cases in terms of how they would have made the diagnosis 30 or 40 years ago, and try to judge on that basis. Then you'd have some meaningful figures on whether the rate had genuinely increased, or it was just because they'd moved the goal-posts.

I don't know enough about it to guess how much is one and how much the other, but I thinkk it's vital to know that to be able to make decisions.

If it's just the diagnosis that's done differently, then there's no need to look for other underlying reasons.

But if even 2x as many cases would be spotted today, even under the old basis for diagnosis, then you'd have to say there's something to it.

exactly even if we say 10x is down to better diagnosis then double the rates has got to be environmental etc....where are the answers for the poor sods like myself living with this?????

What are the potential environmental things?

I am quite ignorant.

I can think of three friends of mine who, I am absolutely sure, would be spotted as being on the autistic spectrum these days, albeit on the mild/high-functioning end. (Cambridge science graduates!)

Oddly enough, it was being a parent, and being around dc with that diagnosis that caused me to come to that awareness about them.

It was a very, very odd moment when the penny dropped. And I have to say, it's made accounting for some of their more eccentric personality traits so much easier.

I often wonder whether an increased awareness in our childhoods would have made all our lives more comfortable. Increased awareness does seem to be at least one step forwards, though more research would be even better.

of course, the one need not exclude the other

it could be that more cases are being diagnosed and that there is some factor leading to a genuine increase in cases

In our case musicians marrying musicians BUT i know countless of married musicians who do not have autistic children. I do not believe it is entirely genetic - many many families have the odd quirky behaviour but do not go on to have autistic children - some families have no 'quirky/odd' behaviours and have autistic children - am convinced it is more complex than pure genetics (which granted is complicated enough!!)

No history of ASD in my family or DH's - none whatsoever.