The apparent rise in autistic people in the last 40 years

Question

I’m curious as to the seeming rise of autistic humans in the last decades.

Is it that it was just not understood and therefore not diagnosed/reported?

Are there environmental or even societal factors that have corresponded to this increase in cases?

In: Biology

Answer 1

I’m not qualified to diagnose anyone with anything but it seems like the 20th century was riddled with weird idiosyncratic entertainers who were probably on the spectrum.