Autism Diagnoses Increase Nearly 800% in Twenty Years

Page 1 of 1 [ 3 posts ] 

ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,245
Location: Long Island, New York

28 Sep 2021, 7:25 am

Neuroscience News and Research

Quote:
The exponential increase - between 1998 and 2018 - was greater for females than males, with the greatest rises among adults.

Researchers compared the rates of autism recorded in GP records in England, covering over 9 million patients from GP practices.

The study, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, suggests the diagnosis of Asperger’s disorder, a form of autism that does not have attendant intellectual disability, was increasingly applied until the diagnosis was officially scrapped in 2013.

A UK policy introduced in 2009 to invest in adult assessment centre may underpin the rise in adult diagnosis.

“As there is not really a plausible reason why autism should increase more in adults and females our study suggests the change is probably due to increased identification, and not more people with neurodevelopmental disorders per se.” said lead author Ginny Russell, from the University of Exeter.

"However, autism is not like a continent awaiting discovery. The definition of what constitutes autism has changed over time, and females and adults were not often thought of as having autism 20 years ago.

Data was taken from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) primary care database, which contains patients registered with practices contributing data to the CPRD between 1998 and 2018. A total of 65,665 patients had a diagnosis of autism recorded in 2018.

Autism is popularly conceptualized as a ‘male’ disorder. In response there has been a drive toward referral of more females. The study, which shows a marked growth in female diagnoses compared with males, suggest such initiatives have been having an effect.


_________________
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity

“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


Mountain Goat
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 13 May 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 14,202
Location: .

28 Sep 2021, 9:04 am

The real reason is that so many people here in the UK have in the past slipped through the net, and this was mainly due to a lack of education amongst both medical staff, school teachers, midwives and the population as a whole as to what autism is, and the large missconceptions of what the public in general had assumed that it was.

I have been rather shocked when a schoolteacher who has five years to go before she retires and who teaches in one of the largest schools here in Wales happened to say to me (When she heard that I am on the list to be assessed) "You don't have autism. You are not in a wheelchair".

It is actually quite shocking the lack of knowledge about autism amongst those who work in the health system and the education system as to what autism actually is and how old common pre-concieved ideas they have seen on TV have prevented the public with a false understanding of what autism actually is. The example I gave above with the schoolteacher is actually very commonly believed. (Yes, a few on the spectrum are in a wheelchair to get around but this does not mean that everyone is).

It is only in recent years due to past TV programs by the National Autistic Society in an attempt to raise awareness that people have come forward realizing that their struggles have not been alone, and they have come forward to be assessed. If anything this one relitively short program which I have seen aired three times has done more to educate the public here in the UK as to what autism actually is then any past TV news or film has done.
When I watched this TV programme (About half an hour long (?) and it followed three people stories as they were put forward to be assessed and at the end they shared their results), I was glued to it. There was something about it that seemed far too familiar! (Though for me it was part of the process of discovery as I was kinda in a daze not quite knowing where I was as I was kinda in a denial? I was saying to myself "It can't be can it???" I still don't know until I am assessed!


_________________
.


IsabellaLinton
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Nov 2017
Gender: Female
Posts: 67,988
Location: Chez Quis

28 Sep 2021, 9:33 am

Another consideration is that there was no internet twenty years ago. Undiagnosed autistic people had no way to research information, or talk to other people on the spectrum who might help them to recognise their traits. The internet has allowed for public education and even helped doctors or therapists to find primary source information (e.g., reading accounts and memoirs from autistic adults, or seeing video of #actuallyautistic people) at the click of a button. It allows for research to be updated and presented in real time, instead of decaying in antiquated textbooks on dusty shelves.

I don't necessarily believe there are more autistic babies being born. I just think public awareness has been raised.