Is there really an autism epidemic?

In recent years, there has been much debate on whether there is an autism epidemic. It seems that nowadays children are receiving a diagnosis of autism at an alarming rate. If you do an honest study, you will discover that there are many contrasting opinions on what is causing these staggering statistics.

Some people believe that environmental toxins, from either internal or external sources, are causing the increase in prevalence. Others believe it is simply being diagnosed better. Who is correct?

Whatever your personal view, most people will agree that people's attitudes toward autism have drastically changed. Society is much more aware of autism now, yet, it is still not very accommodating to those on the spectrum.

The definition of autism in the past was simply “a form of childhood psychosis”, now we know that isn’t true, and such a blunt definition is rather offensive. With a better understanding, psychologists now realize that autism exists on a spectrum. It varies in severity. Children who were seen as aloof, shy, and struggled with social interaction would have been dismissed as eccentric. Now many of those children are understood to be on the autistic spectrum, and interventions are implemented to help them.

I believe many professional occupations have a higher prevalence of older undiagnosed autistic adults, such as software developers/computer programmers and the creative industries.

Another theory is that a lot of premature babies are thankfully surviving at much higher rates than in the decades past. I was one of those babies. In theory, premature babies are much more likely to be diagnosed with autism and other conditions. This is a proposed theory, yet there is no concrete evidence to support this claim.

Is it an increase in the disorder? A radical change in the diagnostic criteria? Or a combination of different factors. That is open for debate.

Let me know your opinions.

Trance.