31 experts weigh in on increasing Autism Prevelence

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Is Autism prevalence increasing?

I'm not sure what kind of answer I want. Increasing autism prevalence makes it sound like it was a virus that is threatening the human race and soon every child will be "damaged". On one hand that kind of answer is good in case there actually is something one can do to prevent people from being disabled. On the other hand it makes me think of the condition as something negative - and that makes it harder to accept. Just please don't let it be some environmental factor!

I think the kind of answer I would like to hear is that autism is really just part of the human race. That we're finally discovering more about ourselves and that's why there are more diagnosis made today. Something along those lines.

Uta Friths answer should be posted in this thread viewtopic.php?t=370891&start=135

I think the answer is kind of two-fold.

1. An increase of access to diagnostic tools and media(thanks internet!) that allow people that couldn't typically be bothered to go to a psychologist/GP/etc. a more accessible way to analyze themselves. Anecdotal of course, but I am not social enough to ever have considered booking a consultation or appointment to get myself checked. Having tools, communities, and media to analyze and correlate my own issues against, in a way, incentivized my willingness to set up an appointment.

2. An ever increasingly hyper-social world is bound to the same rules of social elasticity. Anti-social and other autistic social tendencies are, in my opinion, a direct result of how interconnected we have become. Is Aspergers/Autism solely the result of our environment? No. I don't believe that at all, but I do believe our current environment exasperates seemingly dormant psychological and neurological quirks that get brought to the surface when coerced into daily, inorganic interactions. I would argue that what I've described could be more intrinsically linked with the comorbidity of other mental illnesses associated with Autism(Anxiety, Depression, etc.). I think, in a way, that the comorbid illnesses when stacked can easily be perceived as Autism - so that in and of itself might be a determining factor in the increase of diagnoses.

I think ultimately, the reason for the increase in prevalence can be dwindled down to technological advancements in communication allowing for more open discussion and availability of resources. With the downside being that it also persuades individuals into escapism, and a host of perceptually similar illnesses.

I'm not a doctor, don't listen to me. I'm just spitballing.

I would agree with most of what was posted in the "31 questions."

I would say that:

Increased awareness of autism amongst the general population

Increased diagnosis of autism amongst women and "minority" groups

Broadening of autism diagnostic criteria

Insertion of PDD-NOS into the more generalized "ASD" category


Account for the most of the alleged "increase" in autism amongst the general population of, especially, the "Western World."

If vaccines caused autism, we would have had autism up the kazoo during the 1950s-1960s.

The former posts are right, no increase superior to the natural increase of the population but a greater awareness that lead to more diagnosis and auto-diagnosis.