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In my opinion Autism has increased

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Shauna88
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04 Feb 2015, 11:58 am

And no I don't think it's because of vaccines, food or toxins or even better detection. I see more legitimately "autistic" (kanners) kids out in public more than ever. Hand flapping, banging TheI heads, limited language.

What is going on?



arielhawksquill
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04 Feb 2015, 12:30 pm

It could be because people are trying to mainstream their special needs kids more these days, instead of hiding them away in institutions.

There is also a greater influx of kids into previously adult spaces overall--it's a frequent complaint by patrons of fancy restaurants that their dinners have been ruined by unruly kids who would have been left home with a sitter a generation ago.



Fnord
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04 Feb 2015, 3:40 pm

More Autistic people are being mainstreamed, rather than being locked away in attics, bedrooms, basements, and institutions of the mentally impaired, as was done in decades (centuries?) past.

Then again, you could simply be experiencing Confirmation Bias - like when you buy a red car, and suddenly notice a large number of red cars when you hadn't really noticed any of them before.


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gamerdad
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04 Feb 2015, 4:24 pm

Shauna88 wrote:
What is going on?

Well, I wouldn't rule out confirmation bias. That's not anything personal against you. It's just that we, as humans, don't really have a good track record when relying on anecdotal evidence to interpret larger trends.



Shauna88
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04 Feb 2015, 5:12 pm

Fnord wrote:
More Autistic people are being mainstreamed, rather than being locked away in attics, bedrooms, basements, and institutions of the mentally impaired, as was done in decades (centuries?) past.

Then again, you could simply be experiencing Confirmation Bias - like when you buy a red car, and suddenly notice a large number of red cars when you hadn't really noticed any of them before.


Maybe. It's funny how even ten years ago you didn't see these people out too much.