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

My daughter was recently diagnosed with autism by a psychologist, but just barely. Meaning that in her professional opinion, my (high functioning) daughter was right on the edge of the spectrum. She went ahead and gave her the diagnosis so that we could know what to do going forward and get her any necessary accommodations.

So I would chalk it up to better understanding, better diagnosis, and just more acceptance. The typical behaviors and signs have always been there; we just didn’t have a name for it. And high functioning people on the spectrum learn to “mask” well, and to fit in the best they can, though it’s a constant struggle and pretty exhausting.