Is autism actually increasing?

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I sometimes wonder if autism is actually increasing, and its not just that it is being diagnosed more effectivly.

I recently saw a documentary on autism and it showed a family raising two kids who had classic autism, unable to speak or communicate effectivly, and they were out in the open. How common were kids with non verbal autism in the 1970s or so?

It also makes me wonder about the whole vaccine thing and maybe it might contribute to autism. Babies get tons of vaccines now like 30 or so. People in the 1960s got only a few and weren't substantially less healthy.

Vaccines are filled with all kinds of wierd chemicals, completly foreign ones. Imagine what that could do to ones system if ones system isnt able to process it correctly?

I know it sounds mean and stupid what Im saying, but it makes me wonder. I know autism is a gift in some ways, but in others it really isn't. I especially mean those with really classic autism, who are unable to make friends or speak at all. What advantages do they have? It doesn't really seem to have an evolutionary advantage to it.

Ive been taking a gander at a pretty cazy site: http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com ... d-children. It gives instructions on how to heal from "vaccine damage", which is more or less eating healthy and exercising on a massive scale.

I have followed it and done what it required. I infact have been eating far healthier in college and currently than ever I did in high school and I already feel much better, much less "autistic" in fact. Ifeel clear headed, have far more friends than in high school and no one who I meet can really guess I have aspergers.

Is there any credence to this? thoughts?

Regarding the documentary of a present-day family with two classically affected, non-verbal children out in the open so to speak; those children who were that severely affected back in the 70s or prior, might well have been institutionalized, hidden away from society. There was an astonishing amount of that kind of thing going on back then. You didn't see as many cases "out in the open" living among the rest of us, back then, of the type of autism that is severe, because it was often recommended that parents just send those children away to some kind of care home, or even if they didn't, they kept them at home.

It was "the dark" ages where even an aspect of shame was involved. Erroneous and horrible, of course we know now, but that's how it was back then.

You might see more autism out there in general, in TV documentaries, and in real life, etc because that dark age has lifted, severely affected are not usually shut away anymore, etc.

Yes, exactly. These people, and many others, were in institutions. Now many of those institutions are closed so people can get services at home and in the community, and have "normal everyday lives" (quoting the industry language).

That accounts for some of the increase, as well as more knowledge of what people are looking at. I also think an increase in agitating factors (noises, lights, higher population) has to play some role in autistic traits showing in people. It was probably easier to mask a bit and not feel burnout when you wanted to be social in 1700 than it is today. I guess in the past homes were smaller, with less privacy, but the outside world was more the opposite. Now it's reversed. Something to think about, anyway.

Strongly agree regarding the increase in agitating factors, including noise and a very much higher and denser population.

I agree. Our modern world is just constantly hammering are senses with all kinds of noise. We just had a power outage here in my town a few days ago, and it's amazing just how quiet things can get during that time.

Even in the 1970s, I remember the world around me being a lot quieter, less "bells and whistles," even far less people, and this is a major city, lol. Things have become far more frantic than ever.

It's not that autism is increasing. It's just increasingly more detected. In the past, depending on its degree of severity, it was either ignored (and the person accused of being an attention seeker or lazy) or confused with various mental illnesses. Now, it's almost the contrary. Even ordinary introverted kids are suspected of having autism by bad psychologists

It might be increasing a bit, but we can't be sure.

Doctors have gotten better at diagnosing, and caretakers (parents, teachers and the like) are more open and willing to get a child evaluates as well.
Aside from this, the autism spectrum has been broadened, making more people match the symptoms.

with these three effects all occuring together, it is all but impossible to determine how much effect each has, so trying to find out how much extra cases are really showing up (which is the difference between the extra diagnosis due to the above effects and the real number of extra ones) is a waste of effort; there is just no way

The short answer is, we can't know because we haven't done the proper population studies. We do know that there is a huge increase in identification, and that the definition of autistic has become much bigger. If you want a really good book on the matter, I suggest "Unstrange Minds." It will explain to you why we can't say if there has been an increase.

As for you feeling better on your new diet - good for you! The brain needs a lot of nutrients, and yes, a lot of people feel better on a better diet. But this isn't because you are autistic. This is because you are human. All human brains do better on better diets. Every human is able to think clearer, have less anxiety and depression, and connect more with other humans when we feel well.

There is truth to this phenomenon that autistic children do better when they are put on special diets. Especially if they really do have food sensitivities, which there are about 40-70% of autistics who do have them, so that's significant. Remember how you felt the last time you had a tummy ache? Imagine being a non-verbal child and having that happen. No wonder they act out! Its also true that vaccines can increase a child's negative behavior. But again, this isn't about being autistic. This is about being human. Get a vaccine as an adult. You'll likely feel lousy the next day. That's what is causing the bad behavior afterwards- the perfectly normal human reaction to having our immune system stimulated. It makes us tired and cranky. But it hasn't caused an "Autism Epidemic." (There is an acknowledged number of children who do have severe reactions that can lead to intellectual, but we have various ways that its been shown this doesn't account for the vast majority of autism cases. Its too long to go into here, but you can research it. Its a few dozen oven the last several years.)

As for that webpage, it is FULL TO THE BRIM with crap. And there's a little good stuff in there, too. Just because someone is able to publish on the internet, doesn't mean that they actually know stuff. And sadly, a lot of these "natural" websites really exist to sell you supplements. A few of them, holisticnews comes to mind, are just the brain-child of a really angry demented person who wants to spread fear of modern life as far as he possibly can.

*edited to add: Exercise is also very good for your brain. But exercising on "a massive scale" can be a form of anorexia. As an autistic, you are more prone to anorexia. Please be careful with yourself. If you are a collage student, you likely have access to a campus gym. You can ask there for someone to help you set up rigorous but reasonable exercise program for you. Also, with the healthy eating. See, the thing is, we autistics tend to take things literally and dive in head first. That's another something you can research more, if you wish. There is a significant link between autism and young women with eating disorders.

The increase in autism diagnoses since the 1980s has been attributed to the broadening of the diagnostic criteria since that time. What makes much more sense to me is that: 1) most drugs affect certain people adversely, and 2) these adverse drug reactions (ADRs) often induce or mimic characteristics that are found in many diseases and disorders so convincingly that many diagnosticians can’t tell the difference between the mimicry and the real thing. The effects can be lifelong. So, the question being debated should be: “While the broader diagnostic criteria for autism explains most of the increased diagnoses during the last few decades, why would autism be the only disorder that can’t be induced or mimicked when so many others can be?”


Eating well and exercising is always a good thing. But, there have been many attempted “remedies” offered as cures for autism (see Chelation Therapy for Autism) which are harmful.

What you described about yourself appears to me to be similar to my own diagnosis and resulting comments from friends and others who usually ask me twice (“Really?!?”) if I am autistic, as if they doubt it. I remind myself that the increase in diagnoses since the 1980s was based largely on the fact that individuals with mild autism (a.k.a. Asperger syndrome) came late to the diagnostic party. But, we are still part of the spectrum.

What about this?: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/opini ... .html?_r=0

The basic premise of the article is autism might be increasing because of the lack of exposure to bacteria/nature. I have heard autism barely exists in the amish community (where they are around horses/crops all day long.)

Id look into some documentaries about natives in Africa or South America. How many of the people do you see stimming/rocking or being nonverbal and living in their own world? Of course that could be because they were killed or died as soon as it was clear they weren't going to be "normal". I hear that kind of thing happened in the middle ages a lot .

For the record has their ever been an autism study for vaccianted vis a vis non-vaccinated kids and autism?

I habitually go in to the woods/nature (forest bathing) and have felt better more "clear headed" for it. Fortunately for me (if the article is true) I was recently on a week long road trip to Ireland and saw plenty of nature stuff (Giant's Causeway, Slieve League, Cliffs of Moher) and was around plenty of sheep and cows and the "culture" they produce.

The only reason I even remotely buy into this is the existence of non-verbal autistics, who cannot speak, read, or even engage in the world around them in a even a limited way. Is it truly the way your supposed to be? Did God (if he exists) make them that way?

You at least understand the notion of why parents buy into crazy ideas like this

I do. I believe that God gives us all challenges so that we and our families, friends and coworkers can learn from it all. The trouble with autism-diagnoses theories is that they change frequently and have been shown in research to be useless if not harmful.

I was selectively mute until I was 16 years of age when a friend spent a year or two getting me past my comfort zone socially and verbally. Of course, I could write well, read well and, if absolutely necessary, whisper very short answers to others' questions while staring at the floor or ground about two feet in front of me. Talk about lack of eye contact! The only people I spoke to were family members and one friend.

Maybe so. But Why doesn't God want certain people to have a happy and full life and be able to relate to others?

Given the severity of some autism, it is tempting to consider Aspergers not even part of the spectrum really.

I can consider my life to be horrible, or I can consider it to be very interesting. There are many things I can do, and some things I can't do. This is the experience of everyone whether autistic or not.

A few years ago, I would have been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome (AS). I see the differences between those with AS and those with something closer to Kanner autism. Soon after my diagnosis, I began to believe that everyone on the spectrum has something of material value to share with each other. Despite my early years, I am hyperverbal and my interests include history, law and politics. I have been able to share the knowledge from these interests with others in my life including several of my employers. That is a good thing.

I recognize that those autists with more extreme characteristics often have talents that I could only dream of. Mathematics and science are just two examples. Also, there isn't a single synapse dedicated to music in my body. Sure, I can enjoy listening to it, but that is where it ends for me. For those with extreme characteristics, communicating has become much easier for them by using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) applications. Most autists who use such devices report that they have always had above-average IQs but never had the means to share their thoughts until they could be assisted by their devices.

It all reminds me of the saying that "when God closes a door, he opens a window."

Oh sure, that's what hate group s like A$ want you to think, that it's a pandemic, a health crisis, and the end of the world as we know it unless a "cure" is found. I think more people are being diagnosed because doctors have just begun to really know how different everyone in the spectrum is and we're not all severely mentally-deficient beings who can't feed or dress ourselves and have to be put in homes and it's all the mother's fault.

The human race has barely begun to realize that being "different" in general is not a horrible, contagious disease. But there will always be people who think that, and many of them are world leaders.

As someone who actually was diagnosed with Autism before it was even a commonly known thing I'm pretty cynical about the way that everybody I talk to claims to have a kid with autism because it echoes a time long ago when everybody seemed to have a kid with ADHD (I myself was misdiagnosed with ADHD as a kid before I got a proper diagnoses by a doctor who actually knew what she was doing and wasn't a quack).

I feel like autism is basically the new thing that people want to diagnose all problem children with just like ADHD was back in the day and what makes me really mad is how most people don't even bother to find out what autism is really about. Like when people say that autistic kids are all some kind of super-geniuses like the characters on TV which is complete B.S. because autism has nothing to do with how smart a person is (take it from me I really suck at math and my grammar isn't great either). It's a thing that impairs your social skills and effects the way you react to certain things like taste and touch. I also get very annoyed talking to people like my female neighbor who think that just because they are nerdy and have a social phobia that it automatically means they can label themselves as being autistic without even getting a diagnoses and then they try to tell me that they don't believe I'm autistic just because I don't fit the stereotype that the media has created (I have the same problem with being a gay man and everyone tries to convince me I must not be gay just because I don't fit that stereotype either).

Oh and don't even get me started on the way that society wants to focus all of their attention on Autistic "KIDS" because they think they're cute while completely ignoring the fact that adults can have autism too and that kids with autism will keep having it even as they grow up. I mean seriously as a kid I never realized how much harder it would be to grow up and still have autism because at that point it's like all these doctors and people quit giving a damn about your special needs because they would rather focus all their attention on the cute little kids with autism as if they think they can actually fix them at that age.