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
So, the seeming explosion of autism diagnoses in recent decades is a pretty complex issue. It’s not so much that there’s been a massive increase in autistic folks; rather, we’ve gotten way better at spotting it. Back in the day, autism was this tiny, rigid box that few people fit into. Now? We understand it’s a whole spectrum, and our diagnostic net is much wider. Plus, there’s way more awareness these days. Parents, teachers, doctors, therapists —we’re all more clued in to the signs. Toss in earlier diagnosis, reduced stigma, and better access to services, and you’ve got a recipe for higher numbers. Some researchers are poking around at environmental factors, but there’s no smoking gun there yet. Genetics play a big role too, so when autistic individuals have kids, it’s more likely that some of those little ones might also be on the spectrum. So yeah, while we can’t rule out a true increase, most of us in the field see this “autism boom” as mainly a reflection of our evolving understanding and improved recognition. We’re not necessarily making more autistic people; we’re just finally seeing the ones who were always there.
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