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Aspertastic424
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10 Jun 2014, 9:10 am

I know the jury is still out on whether autism rates are increasing, or whether the rate has always been the same and there is jsut more awareness now?

I am 24, but already it seems there are more autistic little kids than there used to be.

If this is the case, could it be that people are having kids later in life than they used to? I have heard that advanced age can increase the risk of autism.

In the 40s-50s, it was not that unusual for couples to get married and have children straight out of high school. Now the average age for that is a couple in their early 30s or so. Could there be any link?



vickygleitz
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10 Jun 2014, 9:14 am

I do not know. I can tell you that I am old, and when I look back, I can see that there were tons of people like me "way back then" but I didn't recognize them at the time because I was so used to being ostracized by what seemed like everyone.



kraftiekortie
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10 Jun 2014, 9:15 am

I still think autism rates haven't necessarily increased.

I think there's more awareness.

The definition of autism has broadened considerably since before the 1990s.

I see many people who exhibit Aspergian traits.

It's still rare that I see somebody with Kanner-type autism



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10 Jun 2014, 9:17 am

It could be. I've certainly heard that older fathers increase the risk.
Looking back there was no-one in my school with any diagnosed neurodevelopmental problem as far as I was aware but there certainly were quirky, 'naughty' and 'thick' pupils who may well have some kind of diagnosis today.
There were also a lot more special schools when I was younger whereas now the preference here in the uk is to mainstream all but the most severe - so kids with asd etc are certainly visible nowdays.



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10 Jun 2014, 9:33 am

I think the situation is too unclear to tell yet. High functioning autism wasn't recognized well until fairly recently, and that is probably partly responsible for the CDC having to increase the reported rate of Autism every few years lately. Only a few years ago it was roughly 1 in 200, and currently stands at 1 in 68.

So until they establish a reliable baseline number, it is mostly spectulation at this point.

I also think they have a way to go yet with effectively identifying people in a standard way. And I think its possible many more females have it then then currently believe. The 4:1 ratio males to females having autism seems too high. But that may just be a erroneous impression on my part.

But if I was to spectulate, I would say yes it does seem the incidence has increased. I also tend to believe there is an environmental factor, which might explain some increase. Something people have been exposed to in recent decades, as in pollution, chemicals, materials, etc. But like I said this is spectulation.



Aspertastic424
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10 Jun 2014, 9:35 am

Must have been rough for those "thick children" back in the old days.

I know it is much better now, but I have heard that teachers in the UK are allowed to be tougher and more "old scool" than their American counterparts?

Also, I do thik it is best to mainstram a child with aspergrs if at all posible. That way he gets to sort of learn from the neurotypical kids in a sense. At least they should partly socialize with NT kids. I just think there is a lot to learn from NT kids, as long as interaction isnt terribly abusive or bullying.....



Last edited by Aspertastic424 on 10 Jun 2014, 9:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

kraftiekortie
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10 Jun 2014, 9:37 am

If you look at the clientele of WrongPlanet (mostly consisting of people on the Spectrum), you will notice that the ratio is demonstrably not 4:1 in favor of males.



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10 Jun 2014, 10:10 am

I think it's because of an increase in awareness of autism. I don't think there's any type of epidemic going on. We've always been here. It's just that people and doctors are more aware than they have been in the past. People have also come to know that not all of us people on the spectrum sit in a corner, banging our heads all day long. People are more aware that there are different levels of autism.


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10 Jun 2014, 10:39 am

Aspertastic424 wrote:
Must have been rough for those "thick children" back in the old days.

I know it is much better now, but I have heard that teachers in the UK are allowed to be tougher and more "old scool" than their American counterparts?

Also, I do thik it is best to mainstram a child with aspergrs if at all posible. That way he gets to sort of learn from the neurotypical kids in a sense. At least they should partly socialize with NT kids. I just think there is a lot to learn from NT kids, as long as interaction isnt terribly abusive or bullying.....


I agree with this but the problem in the uk is that they have mainstreamed the majority of kids with asd/adhd etc but the teachers have very little training on how to deal with them. Also the sen budget for schools isn't ringfenced to be used for sen children in our area so it encourages schools to try and get results on the cheap, deny issues that need addressing and illegally exclude children by sending them home to 'cool off' or suggesting that parents don't bring them on bad days so they can use the money elsewhere. They also get the same funding regardless of the number of sen pupils per school so if they can move the 'problem' on by suggesting the child may be better suited to another school or threatening exclusion they will. My son just gets treated like a naughty nt child at school. And without a statement (which it's really hard to get) here your child can't even go to a specialist school.



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10 Jun 2014, 11:02 am

One interesting thing is that when this is discussed in many "normal" circles, someone always brings up so-called over-diagnosis. They seem to think that the increase means this is obviously the trendy diagnosis right now and it is obviously over-diagnosed.

I don't understand that thinking. In a classroom of 30, this means there *might* be an Autism Spectrum child in that class. Is that so unbelievable? Doesn't every class have that "weird" kid who might benefit from help?

Heck, even with autism diagnoses on the rise, there are still more Schizophrenics, More diabetics. (I'm sure I could put up a pretty good list.) Even more rape victims, heck even more *rapists* depending on which statistics you are reading. Why would it be so hard to accept that there would be this many Autistic persons?

Edit: I was probably wrong about the Schizophrenic part. The point is that it should not be a surprise to anybody if we do have as many (or more) autistic people as is being reported.



Last edited by b_edward on 10 Jun 2014, 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

Aspertastic424
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10 Jun 2014, 11:05 am

Have you spoken to staff about your childs diagnosis? shown them a certificate? Have they been in any way receptive? I think the law in england affords disabled children an education like in america.. I do know however that public schools can be very difficult to deal with, even if one only wants a small, easily doable alteration in how a child is approached, or a small accommodation?



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10 Jun 2014, 11:16 am

Aspertastic424 wrote:
Have you spoken to staff about your childs diagnosis? shown them a certificate? Have they been in any way receptive? I think the law in england affords disabled children an education like in america.. I do know however that public schools can be very difficult to deal with, even if one only wants a small, easily doable alteration in how a child is approached, or a small accommodation?


Yeah they know about it. He was diagnosed the summer before he started preschool and the doctor wrote to the school and we have regular meetings. But you just get told that there's 30 children in the class to deal with and they can't afford extra support or training for staff. They make odd little accommodations (if they don't cost anything) but there's no real understanding there.

Anyway apologies for hijacking your interesting question with my moaning!



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10 Jun 2014, 11:20 am

kraftiekortie wrote:
If you look at the clientele of WrongPlanet (mostly consisting of people on the Spectrum), you will notice that the ratio is demonstrably not 4:1 in favor of males.


Wrongplanet is hardly a reflection of the autistic population. I've met people with autism in real life that have no idea about this forum, nor have any interest in it.

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10 Jun 2014, 12:03 pm

Acedia wrote:
kraftiekortie wrote:
If you look at the clientele of WrongPlanet (mostly consisting of people on the Spectrum), you will notice that the ratio is demonstrably not 4:1 in favor of males.


Wrongplanet is hardly a reflection of the autistic population. I've met people with autism in real life that have no idea about this forum, nor have any interest in it.

---


Yeah, if you think of it as a sample of people with ASD, it's not random of-course, it's probably very skewed.

As to why the increase: I think it's a mixture of things, more awareness so more identification and broadening of the category but also some over-diagnosis. There's been tons of research interest in it and tons of money thrown into it, this happens to a lot of disorders when they start to be researched and defined in earnest , there are medical and research fads and this is one. This allows for better identification of people with the condition and help for them but probably also some misdiagnosis. In addition, there might be some actual increase, people are having kids later nowadays, the average age of marrying and having a first child have increased and that most likely contributes some and there may be other factors too.



Last edited by daydreamer84 on 10 Jun 2014, 12:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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10 Jun 2014, 12:11 pm

I think there is simply more awareness now than a few years ago (i.e. 20+ years ago). When I was a child no one had ever heard of Aspergers, and you rarely even heard of Autism in general (apart from maybe severe autism). Personally I have never known a person whom I believed could have been misdiagnosed with ASD, on the other hand I have known a few who would have been diagnosed with ASD but never were. My own mother is one of them, and one of my 2 best friends, I am 100% convinced that they both had Aspergers/Autism. So is my favorite cousin, but as far as I know he is unaware of this, I think it could help him if he knew, but its up to him if he ever wants to know more about it and/or if he wants to get a diagnosis.


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10 Jun 2014, 12:24 pm

Acedia wrote:
Wrongplanet is hardly a reflection of the autistic population. I've met people with autism in real life that have no idea about this forum, nor have any interest in it.
---


In the AS/HFA support groups I attend many people do not go on internet forums . Which is irreverent to the possibility of females being under diagnosed.

I have seen not only on this forum but on other Autism related forums widespread belief that Autism is overdiagnosed in general and Aspergers is overdiagnosed(trendy,elitist etc) in particular.

Here is a speech by John Robison given at the 2014 IMFAR conference arguing autistics have always been here but were an accepted part of society a few hundred years ago. I agree with him on this point.
http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2014 ... ights.html


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