Why is Asperger's so much more common these days?

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firemonkey
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07 Dec 2018, 3:49 pm

Could the increase be explained by improvements in picking up on those who are on the spectrum ?



EzraS
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07 Dec 2018, 5:25 pm

ValiantThor wrote:
These numbers are taken from CDC data showing estimates of the number of children with ASD:
2018: 1 in 40 (CDC data is usually at least 2 years old; this is an estimate given by the Journal of Pediatrics, as reported by CNN)
2014: 1 in 68
2008: I in 88
2006: 1 in 110
2004: 1 in 125
2000: 1 in 150
1995: 1 in 1,000

Someone mentioned that I contradicted myself by saying that some of the influx in new diagnoses is due to more uniform diagnostic standards. This is simple to explain. It was not until 1993 that healthcare professionals even got themselves on the same page in defining the term Autism. It took another 2 decades for them to hash out the fine details, as exemplified by the term “Asperger’s” disappearing from the DSM in 2013. How can there be certainty in the numbers when there was not even an accepted standard for diagnosing Autism until just recently? I would list the year 2000 as an accepted starting point for having useable statistics to track the growth rate because of this phenomenon.

The prevalence of those diagnosed with Autism is rapidly accelerating. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this is going to stabilize at 1 in 35 to 1 in 40. If anything, the evidence suggests just the opposite. The data tells me that within 5 years it is going to be 1 in 20 children. Why do you think that this data is even being collected by the CDC? The government and healthcare world see this as an epidemic.

I, for one, do not see it an epidemic. I see a change coming to humanity. Think about how the “normal” people interact and behave: lying about their feelings, avoiding sensitive subjects that are annoyingly obvious, leaving important words unsaid, pretending to like things they do not, pretending that they are not feeling an emotion that they clearly are feeling, using language to hide, skirting crucial issues, attacking people who frighten them without ever realizing they are full of fear, and claiming to be rational when huge steamy clouds of emotion are pouring out of them. In my eyes, I see unevolved, inefficient, and almost maddening, neurotypical behavior. The way I see the world and interact with it quite often makes much more sense.

I do empathize for those that are higher up the Spectrum. In any evolutionary process you’ll find variants and degrees of change. It’s how nature finds the middle ground in adapting and thriving. I was just recently diagnosed and in reconstructing my past, I realized that I was considered almost non-verbal for my first 6 years in this body. I fully credit my mother for pulling me down into the high-functioning range. Had it not been for her, I would have been quite different today. My point is that in living through variant ranges of the Spectrum, I see that there is something special hidden in us “afflicted” with Autism. We are the forerunners to a better society.


I've read this before from someone using a different account.



EzraS
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07 Dec 2018, 5:29 pm

firemonkey wrote:
Could the increase be explained by improvements in picking up on those who are on the spectrum ?


Yes. That's exactly what's happening.



naturalplastic
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07 Dec 2018, 5:34 pm

firemonkey wrote:
Could the increase be explained by improvements in picking up on those who are on the spectrum ?


That's more, or less, what most folks on this six page thread have suggested.



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08 Dec 2018, 12:57 am

At this rate aspies will soon make up 40000% of the population.

Image


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auntblabby
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08 Dec 2018, 1:08 am

the more the merrier. :|



Aspie19828
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08 Dec 2018, 4:11 am

I rarely engage conversation because Aspies do not like small talk. True Aspies avoid conversations as much as possible and rarely talk to people they do not know. Lack of communication skills has always been my biggest problem. I do not know when to talk or not to talk in conversations. I do not know if someone is interested in me or not so I keep talking to a bare minimal. I am incapable of loving anyone, because I am a true Aspie. I feel uncomfortable around family members and do not like hugs or shaking hands. I prefer nods, smiles and bowing instead hugs or handshakes. I hate it when family members do not respect my no hand shake or hugging rule. It gets me annoyed and frustrated because I am an Aspie. I do not know how to read body language and I avoid eye contact because I am an Aspie. I show minimal emotion and talk in a robotic voice because I am an Aspie. I find it near impossible making friends, have only had acquaintances in my life and I have never been on a date because I am an Aspie.



Last edited by Aspie19828 on 08 Dec 2018, 4:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

firemonkey
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08 Dec 2018, 4:21 am

Aspie19828 wrote:
I rarely engage conversation because Aspies do not like small talk. True Aspies avoid conversations as much as possible and rarely talk to people they do not know. Lack of communication skills has always been my biggest problem. I do not know when to talk or not to talk in conversations. I do not know if someone is interested in me or not so I keep talking to a bare minimal. I am incapable of loving anyone, because I am a true Aspie. I feel uncomfortable around family members and do not like hugs or shaking hands. I prefer nods, smiles and bowing instead hugs or handshakes. I hate it when family members do not respect my no hand shake or hugging rule. It gets me annoyed and frustrated because I am an Aspie. I do not know how to read body language and I avoid eye contact because I am an Aspie. I show minimal emotion and talk in a robotic voice because I am an Aspie.


Was that a sarcastic post or serious? It's hard for me to tell.



RetroGamer87
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09 Dec 2018, 12:43 am

firemonkey wrote:
Aspie19828 wrote:
I rarely engage conversation because Aspies do not like small talk. True Aspies avoid conversations as much as possible and rarely talk to people they do not know. Lack of communication skills has always been my biggest problem. I do not know when to talk or not to talk in conversations. I do not know if someone is interested in me or not so I keep talking to a bare minimal. I am incapable of loving anyone, because I am a true Aspie. I feel uncomfortable around family members and do not like hugs or shaking hands. I prefer nods, smiles and bowing instead hugs or handshakes. I hate it when family members do not respect my no hand shake or hugging rule. It gets me annoyed and frustrated because I am an Aspie. I do not know how to read body language and I avoid eye contact because I am an Aspie. I show minimal emotion and talk in a robotic voice because I am an Aspie.


Was that a sarcastic post or serious? It's hard for me to tell.


No aspie has ever been on a date, except for the ones who have been on dates.


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Raleigh
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09 Dec 2018, 12:48 am

The ones who've been on dates aren't 'True' Aspies.
True Aspies can't love each other.


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auntblabby
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09 Dec 2018, 1:31 am

true Scotsman, any?



RetroGamer87
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09 Dec 2018, 1:50 am

Scotsman were the original aspies


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auntblabby
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09 Dec 2018, 1:51 am

how so? :scratch:



Raleigh
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09 Dec 2018, 1:57 am

RetroGamer87 wrote:
Scotsman were the original aspies

That explains it then.


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09 Dec 2018, 2:13 am

I have a very confusing diagnosis story. I always believed I was diagnosed circa 1996/97 when I was 10 year’s due to school recommendations. Which helped me into secondary school where there was an Autism/Asperger’s unit which even back then was a rare thing to have in a mainstream school.

But recently back in September I got a copy of my medical notes that says a complete different story. I was diagnosed with Asperger in 1990 when I was 4 years old. I personally don’t know what story to believe as both stories are plausible. I had a brain haemorrhage when I was born so I was under constant watch of the paediatrician for the first 6 years of my life. If they did diagnose me at 4 years old one thing they did do was fail to tell my parents.

Through primary school the teachers and some of the other students in the class did act as if they knew something I didn’t.

So even if it wasn’t as common then than it is now people were getting diagnosed.

I think the reason why it is more on the increase is because of lifestyle and the way lifestyle is now. It is a lot more stressful, people are socialising less, amongst other things.



rowan_nichol
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09 Dec 2018, 10:31 am

I think a number of reasons are possible.
Autism is now understood as a spectrum - the term is no longer restricted to just severe presentations.
There are standardized diagnostic tools available, giving professionals more confidence to assess individuals than in earlier times.
The today there are both individuals being diagnosed young because the knowledge and diagnostic tools are available combined with people finding information late ib life which was not available when they are young and seeking (and often receiving a diagnosis).

I think it possible the future may see a decrease in the rate as the numbers who only find out late in life which instead are able to find out in youth.

There are also likely to be people who would not have been identified in earlier times when there were more forms of employment available making use of an autistic profiles strong points and pressing more lightly on that profiles pressure points.