Why so much Autism?

[Phoebe]

This is? Is it just a matter of better understanding and more ready diagnosis? Is it the inclusion of a broader spectrum of people who have related symptoms but wouldn't have been diagnosed with anything before? There could be an increased ability/willingness on the part of teachers to identify these behaviors in students, and I know our doctor's office started using a more detailed screening.

[WillyGilligan]

I think better diagnosis is certainly part of it. On the other hand, the switchover from hard diagnoses to The Spectrum is probably having an effect as well. Which I think cuts both ways. Similar to ADHD, I believe that some kids who are fine and don't really need much intervention are being put on the spectrum and contributing to the rates.

[Kyle]

Yes for all the well said reasons you state, Phoebe. There has always been this rate of Autism- they were just called other things in the past- the more severe cases being labeled as retarded and the less being labeled as slow or weird.

[bralbovsky]

An MIT researcher found a correlation of autism with use of Roundup that was pretty close. She had no funding available for a follow-up study to check for causation.

[Kyle]

Gross. Stop.

[FlameBlade]

A Southern Hattateras Institute of Technology researcher has seen a correlation between unsubstantiated research and autism, and could not find funding to confirm whether it's a causation or not.

[Phoebe]

The weird thing about attributing it all to diagnosis and better identification is that this isn't just a long term increase, but happened over the last few years. Did the ability/willingness to identify increase that much in just a few years too? I don't know.

There's no Roundup evidence (I know because I hate the use of Roundup in my yard and read up on the particular range of bad it can do), but pesticides very likely are helping cause other neurological disorders, and I don't think it's a bad idea for researchers to look closely at possible environmental causes. It's tricky because this might be a matter of what parents who had kids in 2015 were exposed to in the 80s and 90s.

[mimekiller]

I think if you watch enough anime you will figure it out