I think more people are being diagnosed because there is so much more awareness than there was back in the fifties. Back then only SEVERLY autstic people were diagnosed but were usualy diagnosed as brain damaged or ret*d. Parents made them have lobotomies and threw them away in instutions and forgot about them. People with AS or PDD were most likely just veiwed as the encentric genius or the "She's lazy. She's so smart she could have many friends if she just tried" types. There is no eppidemic, it's aways been here.
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I'm not weird, you're just too normal.