Asperger's/Autism and Demographics

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I've noticed that the Majority of Aspies and Auties I've seen are European or European descent has anyone else noticed this if its true could that be why a lot of technological achievements where made in Europe and North America. Just curious.

I think there are just more people of that background because Europeans/North Americans have more widespread access to computers and the internet and a wealthy enough lifestyle to spend considerable time on it. Also greater access to mental/psychological knowledge and services so HFA and Asperger's may be more likely to go undiagnosed elsewhere.

I think it could also be a cultural thing beyond access to information or socio-economic factors -- the way that disability is conceptualized and addressed in practical and social terms varies from culture to culture.

Autism is found at roughly the same level in most populations across the world and is found in all races and cultures, in fact, in Korea the level is recognised as much higher than in the caucasian centres of Europe and the americas - their current figures stand at 1:38.

The US and, to a lesser degree, Europe are ethnocentric and it is recognised that the minority cultures are under-represented but this is thought to be largely due to lack of awareness and engagement with health services - there is a program in the States designed to look specifically at ASC diagnosis in black and south american populations to try to redress that balance. Countries around the world are becoming more aware and beginning to put diagnostic and support services in place - for example, Saudi Arabia is developing its autism services exponentially at the moment as the middle east is trying to catch up with the west in awareness and services, I'm also picking up quite a bit about Indian services at the moment though obviously because my language base is european I don't pick up any information in non-european languages so I'm only seeing what is being translated into English.

Living and working in a large multicultural British city I see many people on the spectrum, most of whom are white but a fair proportion are from other cultures - I currently work with people from north and south African states, Asian and East Asian, and Afro-caribbean countries. The Chinese community here runs its own support group.

The very fact that this, and many other resources for information, communication and support, are run in English by white people excludes many, and then those who do brave the cultural divide are clearly speaking English and you can't tell what race/culture they represent unless they choose to tell you. Areas of the world such as south east asia have an extensive internet presence - the east asian net presence uses a chinese language base so any people on the spectrum from those cultures would probably be finding their support in that area of the web rather than this area just as we choose to find our support in the English speaking net communities.

I think that numbers from Korea were from a study that measured autistic tendencies but ignoring the "significant impairment" rule; then, they were not measuring the prevalence of ASD, but of ASD + BAP.

A lot of mild aspies in some Asian or Scandinavian cultures would probably not be viewed as disordered.

I take offense to the idea that technical achievements have only come from Europe and North American. Do you know what civilization was first to record the concept of zero and the idea of positional value? Hint: not European. Do you know that the Ethiopians and Polynesians were centuries ahead of any Europeans regarding navigation and ship-building? Apparently not. Furthermore, many Renaissance-era innovations in Europe were the result of cultural efflorescence that occurred through exchanges with the Middle East.

A lot of "mild aspies" are not diagnosed or considered disordered in most cultures including the USA and the UK (we know how under-represented women are in the ranks of the diagnosed for a start) - why target Asian and Scandinavian? Especially as Northern Europe and Scandinavia have some of the best professionals and services in the world and some parts of Asia have better and more inclusive health services than even the UK - just because we don't hear much from a country doesn't mean they are not developing their understanding and services. I am seeing increasing numbers of south east Asian names on academic papers suggesting that there has been a significant increase in the level of contribution to research from that part of the world in recent years (particularly in the area of neurology) and that it is now being translated and disseminated in English.

Where I live, you can say, 'My child has Aspergers', to almost anyone and they'll inevitably tell you they know someone or are related to someone with it. I've read a few threads on here by people who've never met another person with it. That's simply not the case here. There are 3 kids in my daughter's mainstream class with a diagnosis of HFA/ Aspergers and yet another, who moved to an autism base, a couple of years ago. Her class might be exceptional, but it is very common here and I don't think it's because it's over diagnosed,. The kids I know definitely have significant difficulties, due to their autism. In fact, in the case of females, like everywhere else, it appears to be under diagnosed. As for technological achievements, life today would be very different without Scottish engineers and inventors.

No, it could not be why, or at least not the sole reason. The reason is undoubtedly complex and made up of different factors depending upon the historical period, as it would be for any social phenomenon. Even if people with ASDs are generally more innovative than the general population, they need the material conditions in order to actually innovate. For example, in the not-so-distant past, certain Europeans and North Americans made great use of slave labor (including actual slaves, peasants aka de facto slaves due to the huge wealth disparity, and the unpaid domestic labor of women). This gave select male members of the upper classes (who were behind most of the technological achievements) a great deal of free time with which they were able to tinker to their heart's content. In modern north America, the situation has changed somewhat, although low minimum wages and third world sweatshops do still allow some to live off of slave labor.