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

Our understanding of autism has changed.

It used to be you were either “autistic,” and screamed and had breakdowns in class, or you had “Asperger’s,” and were a little eccentric and hyper logical (obviously this is oversimplified but you get the idea).

Over the past 30-40 years we’ve realized that the two are actually one and the same, and that there are varying degrees, hence the more modern term “autism spectrum.” Due to the broadened definition of autism, more people who fall on the “high functioning,” side have been getting diagnosed and getting the help they need.