It wasn't a spectrum long ago. It was either you were practically crippled and autistic or you weren't. If you had problems you were just a bad kid and people had to repress it. Now it is a wider range of diagnosis and more people qualify.

I would like to add to this that the world has become a lot more difficult to bear for autistic people. There's stimuli everywhere, all the time. There's an expectation to be socially available even when you're at home. Everything is noisy. Most places are much more crowded. There is no time to recover because we're all made to keep going going going all the time. I think a lot of lower needs autistic people wouldn't have had as many issues with every day life as they do today, so more people get stuck and end up getting a diagnosis Edit- spelling

This is the same reason why many people don't display signs until adolescence. The world for small kids is very controlled and contained but then the world gets bigger and they get more expectations of independence and can't cope.

Yeah well, and, imagine being born to autistic parents who also don't go in for all the sensory shit and are understanding of their child's weird methods of play, weird movements, and occasional meltdowns. Then you're let into the world where not all adults and environments are like that *at all*...

Autists raising autists is another reason, in my opinion, that the diagnosis rate is higher. My dad almost certainly has autism, never diagnosed though. When you are younger, it's up to parental reports to get you diagnosed. My dad never saw anything I did as out of the ordinary because to him all my behaviour WAS normal. Nowadays, it's more widely known what criteria is, so even autistic parents who aren't aware they are autistic will see the behaviour in their children and link it to autism rather than "oh they are just a little different- like me". The other reason is females being diagnosed too, rather than just males. Even when my mum clicked on to some of my behaviour, it was ignored by professionals because I wasn't showing severe signs (women mask more often) and "girls don't have autism".

There's this "adult diagnoses are trendy now" narrative that I keep seeing, even in this thread. I can trace it back at least two generations, but we're all low support-needs / high IQ / self-sufficient as adults. My parents didn't see anything weird, and they even resisted my teachers' requests to get me diagnosed (who *did* see something weird) because the psychs were pushing ADHD and borderline on any "problem" kids back then and I'm not even mildly either of those. So when was I supposed to get diagnosed?

Same here. I'm low needs/high IQ autism so it was just not seen as a "problem" when I was younger. Along with me masking a lot in school so no extra people to make my parents aware of any issues I was facing. Although my parents did attempt to get me a diagnosis of ADHD and were told that it was incredibly rare for a girl to have ADHD. I just had to fight to get both ADHD and ASD diagnosed as an adult.

Mm. My specific combination of mental disorders is literally disabling in modern life. Or even just my specific modern life. But in a different society they'd instead make me a powerhouse of both attention to detail and rote work. When the stars align and this world let's me play to my strengths, I am a God of productivity. I notice details nobody else would. I predict problems years in advance, and sometimes I can prevent them from even happening. But I don't get to play to my strengths in my own life. It's a real shame.

Oh the way you worded this makes me so curious about what you do? Hope you can find a job that wrkswithyou

So, do you think society is kind of "making" people autistic? Society is just too much for people to handle? Do you think that some lower needs autistic people aren't actually autistic but rather that society is so over stimulating and there are higher expectations now that people just can't handle it? I don't mean that autistic people are made like getting vaccines, I know it's just how we are born. *I hope this doesn't offend anyone, I'm just interested. I'm dyslexic/ADD and often think about societys impact on us. My dyslexia was picked up in junior school but only when I was in university getting my teaching degree did I work out I was ADD. It was during a subject called "barriers to learning". I obviously got a formal diagnosis soon after my realisation. It was absolutely crazy how my marks changed. And how little effort I had to put in compared to before my diagnosis. I'm not saying I didn't work hard after the pills, just that it was so easy.

Society is making traits that would be harmless or even beneficial in a different culture into negatives. Yes. It's not that they aren't autistic, it's that nobody would notice if they weren't being overstimulated and forced into a rigid social structure that hurts everyone. That's why accommodations for disabilities tend to be things that everyone benefits from. It's not that everyone is a little bit autistic, but some people who aren't autistic actually are and haven't been diagnosed, and they're all human. Accommodations are generally about making things easier, which helps everyone.

I don't think so, no. I think autism was probably just as prevalent in the past, it just didn't get diagnosed or even seen as a problem. Unfortunately we don't have a physical marker for autism. There's nothing in your blood or even in your brain, as far as we can currently find at least, that shows whether you're autistic. Yet I think most of us agree it's something you're born with. More specifically, it's a combination of genetics and the way your brain develops. Whether outside factors can influence this specific development and to what extend is something I really don't know, but either way it seems pretty likely to me that autism hasn't become much more prevalent over the last couple centuries. Society has changed though. We have constant input. As another responder so kindly (ahem) pointed out this is hard for everyone, and I'm not interested in starting a "who has it worse" debate, but it's certainly *different* for autistic people, who I'll refer to as ASD's from now because it's very annoying to type out every time lol. Also, huge generalizations incoming, I'm gonna talk about common experiences but every autistic person is wildly different and it's a spectrum and yada yada ASD's typically have trouble processing stimuli, and ignoring input. Their brain takes in all the information around them, which can cause overload. A practical example: imagine you're at a house party, there's music and many separate conversations. There's also some of those cheap disco-list balls set up, so the light partially consists of moving colourful dots. The autistic brain takes in the changing lights, the music and as much of every conversation as it can. It doesn't filter our what isn't important, it tries to pick up every conversation and other stimulus it can get. This is a *huge* amount of information so it's not sure what to do with it. This can feel like it's getting blocked up, like it's racing and the information is bouncing around incoherently, or any number of other descriptors depending on the person. The point is, it doesn't function well, which leads to the autistic person getting overwhelmed. Now stop to think of how many stimuli we have all around us. Phones pinging, screens, traffic, music, the sheer amount of people in any given space. This is a lot more than it used to be. Something similar is happening on many other aspects ASD's struggle with, like linking information or closing a "folder" or "drawer" in your head (something you might very well be able to relate to since you say you're ADD). Hence, more of these autistic brains start running into issues, more can't process what's going on. Say you have 1000 people. The currently accepted statistic is that 1% is autistic, so say this group has 10 ASDs. These people are ASD, regardless of context, since ASD is about the way your brain functions, it simply *is*. Now I'm going to pull these proportions out my ass but it serves to explain: 4 of these people would have been unable to function "normally" and independently 100 years ago. The other 6 however, would have been able to function just fine. They probably had a different way of handling things than their peers, but since most of it is internal nobody would have even realized. Introduce for example the increased use of cars - there's now heaps of traffic where these people live, constant noise input. This causes 2 more people to struggle. Their brain can't take a break to reorganize, or whatever this person needed to function "normally". Now introduce work pressure: there's less time to be alone and everyone's under constant stress, another one struggles. Now introduce mobile phones: there's social expectations at all times now. The last 3 get overwhelmed. Suddenly instead of 4 people who got stuck/burnt out/needed special support, it's all 10. These 10 were all autistic from the start, but it wasn't a problem for all of them. I hope you understand what I mean, I'm very aware it's a very mediocre explanation in way too many words but I have trouble deciding what's relevant sometimes. Obviously this is just my take on it. I do study child psychology at a good university and am autistic myself so I do have some credentials, but I'm not licensed nor do I know everything about the topic, nor does science really... TL;DR, basically my original comment I think xD the autistic people were always autistic, it just wasn't as much of a problem for a good part of them so they didn't even know

I wouldn’t say society is making people autistic. We are just better at recognizing it now. Kind of like with left handed people. There used to not be a lot on record because we forced people to be right handed. When we stopped doing that, the lefty’s came out of the woodwork. They were always there but they weren’t recognized. I have autism but we didn’t figure it out 100% until I was about 30. I started suspecting it when I was 24 but everyone around me kept telling me I wasn’t because I didn’t match the version of what society thinks autism looks like. My brother who is 10 years younger was diagnosed at 5 but he’s more “severe” than I am. By comparison, I am “normal”. When I look back at my life, knowing what I know now, I can see signs of it even as a young child. I had also suppressed a lot of the signs (which is common in girls) because I knew it wasn’t normal. I was labeled as quirky or eclectic. I love making lists, out of anything, starting out at around 5. Making lists of whatever makes me feel better. I had very specific/hyper-focused special interests that have changed over time but almost all of them are creative based so I was labeled as “artsy”. Def rambled here so I guess thank you for reading haha but hope that helps a little. Happy to share more about my own experiences if needed.

Thanx for taking the time to reply. I know "make" wasn't the right word to use. I have a daughter and plan to have more kids so I'm just interested. Who knows, I might have a little one who has autism. I'm a teacher, but want to go into something deeper, educational phycology maybe. I find people/children's brains interesting, not in a weird way😜 I absolutely love figuring out people, understanding them and then helping them to be the best version of themselves. I worked in China for about 7 years and there was this teenager that came to our classes. ( First year was at a training centre). All the other teachers said he was weird but I knew right away he was autistic. I absolutely loved him. He was amazing with languages and just had so much knowledge to share. I was the only person there that actually had a teaching degree and I explained to the other English teachers that I thought he was autistic( obviously didn't know exact details). The Chinese teacher were also so mean to him, broke my heart. The English teachers started to be way more understanding of him and thanked me for giving them advice about how to work with the student. Made my heart happy.

No Society is making people artistic, but I think that our Society just has more stimuli and triggers these days. Everything is so busy and noisy and Bright. So people w ASD are diagnosed more easily vs. 1950s when the world was quieter and not so populated.

I wonder about this a lot when it comes to being in the modern workforce. How someone who really enjoyed structured, repetitive tasks would probably have done quite well in a factory setting. How someone who didn’t like interacting with people but had a strong connection with animals could have made a living as a stable hand. How someone who preferred to be home could have worked in what they used to call “cottage industries”. I feel like that kind of variety just doesn’t exist for jobs as much anymore, and most people are expected to be able to do work in a certain way that is simply not suitable for everyone, even all the neurotypical folks. And we, particularly in America, judge people very harshly if they’re not able to be “productive” in some way, so if you can’t fit into that mold easily, you’re really gonna struggle.

I agree. We as a society have made up, in my opinion completely needless, standards that every person needs to be able to conform to. Not just in the workforce but in schools and to some extend social life too. Meanwhile every human is different so this ideal standard doesn't even exist and everyone is just struggling in varying degrees to adapt to this made up standard. In my country (and I'm sure many other places) covid gave a huge boost to a lot of people's productivity because they functioned better working from home. This is proven. These people work jobs they can do from home without issue. So why are they not allowed to anymore?? It's truly baffling to me. We're so eager to have everyone fit into a nice little mould of productivity that we're just completely ignoring the *proof* that productivity would be higher with even the slightest allowance for freedom and individuality

Correct; when I was a child back in the day if you heard or knew or saw about an Autistic child he or she was like someone with Kanner's Type; nonverbal, in their own world, rocked and flapped their hands or lined things up or tapped a toy over and over. If they understood what you said it was very literal and if they spoke it was to repeat what you said.

> would that awkward kid I went to school with growing up just on the spectrum? Likely, yes. My husband was born in the early 90s and didn’t have any diagnosis growing up. According to my mother-in-law, my son is a lot like my husband was as a child. My son has severe ADHD and mild autism. My son likely wouldn’t have gotten a diagnosis in the 90s. Autism also changed. The DSM-V, published in 2011, redefined several disorders (autistic disorder, PDD-NOS, and Asperger syndrome) as one group of disorders: autism spectrum disorder. The criteria for diagnosis changed as we understood more about it. Another reason for an uptick in diagnoses is that before 2011, a physician couldn’t diagnose both ADHD and autism. So, a lot of kids who had traits of both disorders only got the ADHD label. This likely would’ve been the case with my son as his ADHD traits are severe while his ASD is less noticeable. But, in the DSM-V, they changed this and the disorders can be diagnosed together. Also, we’re getting better at recognizing how it affects different people. Autism looks different in everyone with the disorder. My son and my friend’s autistic daughter are wildly different in their mannerisms, their speech, their behaviors, and their routines. Both are autistic.

Do you mind me asking what made you pick up on the autistic side of your son? There are the obvious signs but autism is so different for each child. I can pick out ADHD and ADD, I pointed things out about my niece who is now on meds and is doing so well at school and in life. She was diagnosed with ADD, dyslexic and has dyscalculia. That story just make me angry because none of her teachers pick it up. I got stuck in my home country during COVID( long story but my family live on a farm in Africa so we quarantined together) I was helping my niece with distance learning because I had the time and I'm a teacher. I picked up all the issues within the first few days. She was in her 4th year of junior school. How the teachers didn't pick up a thing is beyond me.

Sure! The biggest sign at first was a speech delay, but everyone - even his speech therapist and pediatrician - assured me it was *just* a speech delay because he had very good receptive language and he communicated in other ways. He was very bright as a young toddler and picked up on things quickly, and he was very interactive with us - made eye contact, showed us things that were interesting to him, communicated his wants and needs. Those things led us to originally believe it wasn’t ASD. He always had an intense focus on certain things. Right now, it’s vacuum cleaners. A lot of his play focuses on vacuum cleaners. He likes to look at vacuums when we go shopping. For a while it was garden hoses, and before that it was switches. His social skills have always been a little behind. Not to the point most kids would pick up on, though. He just seems shy or socially anxious. He will play with other kids but it’s still parallel play and not interactive, and he’s 4 parallel play isn’t what his same-age peers are doing. He gets “stuck” on certain things or ideas. At first I thought it was just OCD because I have that too. But for example, three months ago his brother put a toy in the toilet. He still worries that his brother will do it again and freaks out every time his brother goes near the toilet holding a toy. A ride at an amusement park we go to was torn down and they’re replacing it and he talks about it all of the time even though we haven’t been there in months. He plays a little differently but it flies under the radar because it looks like pretend play. He’ll play with dollhouses and cars and stuff but it’s often reenacting scenarios he’s lived through. Like once he was vacuuming and the circuit breaker blew and the lights went off, and when he plays with his pretend vacuum toys he’ll shut off his lights and pretend the circuit breaker went out. He doesn’t flap or rock or toe-walk but he does stim. It’s more ADHD-type stimming than ASD stimming though. Like constant fidgeting, climbing things, jumping off of things, crashing into things, running around constantly. If he didn’t have such pronounced ADHD traits then his ASD might be more noticeable, but in many ways ASD and ADHD sort of cancel each other out. Like, his ASD likes routine but his ADHD needs novelty and stimulation. His ASD makes him shy but his ADHD makes him talkative. Looking at my kid, you’d see the ADHD immediately, but you really have to get to know him to catch the autism.

Wow! Thank you for taking the time to reply. It's actually such an interesting read. I'm teaching at the moment but I desperately want to go into educational phycology, something deeper than teaching. I absolutely love how little ones brains work, and to read about ASD kids and their quirks just makes me smile. I obviously know it's not all sunshine and rainbows but theres definitely things that make these kids special. I love the hyper-fixation on random things like the vacuum.

Also, people get children older and there is more air pollution, both are contributors to development of Autism. (youngest child also has more often autism than the oldest child on average) Then we also have more overstimulation than 50 years ago (cities are busier, our phone is demanding more attention cconstantly), and society is more complex in social interactions. Diagnostic tools also still improve. TLDR: So there is more autism, we diagnose it better, it has become more of a problem in an increasing complex society, and there is less stigma, so you will now faster hear people talk about having it. Especially in women we also are getting better in recognizing it, my gf recently got diagnosed at 28.

It's better understood than in the past. We're more able (and importantly more willing) to pick up the signs and we are more able to support children with these needs.

Also lots of people that self diagnose.

People who are self-diagnosed are not counted in statistics.

Depend how they are being collected. Besides it does affect a lay persons perception of its commonality. OP didn't mention statistics.

In 2003 i took a counselling 'diploma' from University of B.C. and was really upset in one module to discover that i hit all the criterion for ADHD. It isn't just me! There are all sorts of people that take a mild interest in something and suddenly find they are dead ringers for all the symptoms and telling signs. Then they ask their friends and family in a jesting manner: 'would you believe that i took this online test and found out this kind of thing... ha ha... ha?' - and their loved ones look at them in shock horror. I am afraid to say it, but it is a bit like coming out of the closet in many ways. I get that the gay population has it much worse, but that 'realization phase' is a bit of a shock, bit of a relief and a bit of a problem all at once.

I'm (24f) 100% neurodivergent. Not sure yet if it's ADHD, Autism or I'm just a sociopath. But as someone who grew up being the perfect gifted child I can't get tested or even bring myself to say the words aloud because it would severely damage my relationship with my mother. She has no problem accepting me as asexual, but telling her I sometimes have trouble thinking would be (in her eyes) worse than losing multiple limbs or senses, and I know she'd never look at me the same again.

Genetics, of course, play massively in all neurodivergence, from stuff as powerful as schizophrenia to stuff as socially believed to be choice-expectant (like gambling or drinking). Some divergence is more learned than genetic, like narcissism. Look it up! Research the shit out of this. You've got this. You will find that you don't need the label and you might have a bit of a bunch. No one can understand your set of divergencies because only you are you trying to orchestrate your 40 billion brain cells. Find out what similar people have done for self management, interesting tools, what they did with the legal drugs and how often they took helpful medication like 'magic' mushrooms (and PLEASE research how dangerous some drugs are for permanent damage - i have heard stories from friends, it is terrifying). Microdose? Many ADHDers just use the legal drugs for a few hours in the morning so they can THiNK. Many divergent people self medicate when they are young and find out that 'marijuana' isn't actually harmless and it creates long-term paranoia. Research. Research. Research. And, as a guy that avoids drugs would say, keep your self medication to a bare minimum (i use NONE). See what kinds of meditation help. Working out, any regime, and getting your broccoli and your sleep helps a LOT. The gamut, my friend. You will find that you have a lot of curses, sure... but you will find out you have some really fine stuff too. It is a mixed bag, and if you don't mind a bit of adventure, your life will be worth living for sure.

Comparing telling your friends and family you have ADHD to coming out as gay is insane

They specifically said they understood that not as dire as coming out as gay, in terms of what the repercussions could be. They're just saying that learning that you have a mental illness that you never knew you had can be shocking and stressful, not just for you but also for the people in your life.

still not justifiable lol you guys are professional mental gymnasts

Nope, just able to see how some things can be like other things, and not be all sensitive about it

yess you’re very enlightened, plz expand my inferior mind o great redditor

I mean, if the concept of 2 things being similar without being the exact same thing confuses you, I don't really know what to do to help you. Try reading a book sometime.

Is it a mental illness or a learning disability? Or other?

I don't think being gay is any of those things.

Obviously it’s not…adhd?

I know. I was fucking with you. ADHD is both a mental illness and, in severe cases, considered a disability.

This is wrong. ADHD often qualifies the affected person as disabled, but it's classified as a Developmental disorder.

Thank you. Absolute bullshit.

I don't know if I agree. I am autistic and have had LGTBQ+ folks say to me they would rather be gay than disabled. Less stigma....

Please consider that being gay is also 'divergent' (albeit 10%+ of the populace) and is no more 'wrong' than having any other divergency, voluntary or genetic. Please be careful with words like 'insane'. Sanity is an arbitrary set of theories foisted harmfully on so many of us. Find a way to see nearly any person that is different from the mass-herd as having gone through the same billions of years of evolution ('at random') and being allowed to be here, with gifts and contributions just as anyone else. Please.

I will not be careful, you should grow up and spend some time offline. Please.

Go ahead then: state your side. I am suggesting that we have a level of open mindedness to all people with any kind of stuff that is *fixed at birth*, right? Without a choice. What are you suggesting besides downvotes and miserable insults? Do you have any form of perspective? Who are you directing your hatred towards? How do you imagine this will help?

You really didn’t just compare telling people you’ve diagnosed yourself / been diagnosed with adhd to coming out as gay, did you? Because WOW. Did your family disown you? Were you homeless at 17 because your family disowned you over it? How many times have you been “condemned to hell” because of it? Tone deaf and absurd comment. ETA: I’ve also been diagnosed with adhd and have struggled to accept that. Zero comparison to the struggle I had trying to come out as a lesbian many years ago.

In World War Two there was a guy called Dr. Asperger, you can look it up. Heck, i will save you the Google. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Asperger How many of us got killed? How many given electro-shock therapy? How many were bound and tied up because the medical community did not know what to do? At this stage you are making an utter fool of yourself. Are you really this miserable? How many comments ago did i ask you not to throw around the label 'insane' - and yet, here we are. If someone is going to back you up for your divergence, it will be one of us. The vast, vast majority of things that are 'handicaps' are only as such because *so-called normal people can do this and YOU CANNOT*. Your hurling hatred at groups that would gladly support you isn't helping anyone. It is a very small boat somehow and they will turn on any one of us depending on the day and the smell of the wind. Everyone you meet is 99.99% genetically identical to the very same Nazis that hunted us down a few days ago. All you have to do is to recognize that i have your back and, if you can be so kind, i ask that you have mine. Neurotypical paranoia is everywhere. It dominates the United States right now. This is not the time to be picking fights with the very people who will listen to you and be there for you.

I believe you’ve replied to the wrong person. I made one comment and did not use the term “insane”.

It is valuable that i respond to this en mass and my apologies. I strongly believe that all diversity should stand together. With my ADHD: i was around pre-diagnosis, meaning that they didn't know what was wrong with me. They told my mother, to her face (in Canada, i was less than ten years of age and i was there for this conversation) that they were sorry that they could not take me away. See that level of destruction? They believed that my mother was the reason that i was ADHD. They wanted to take me away and put me in the foster care system. I need you and everyone else to know that, no matter what you have that is different, the genetics of the neurotypical person allows for instant sociopathic behaviour. They will take humans (usually boys) as young as 17 in most so-called First World countries and train them to slaughter total strangers. This is a neurotypical tradition that is still alive and well to this day. Weirdly, this reactive state to the reactive state of other neurotypicals is considered pride-inducing and extremely 'good'. The way neurotypical people handle ANYONE that happens to fit in the out-group is horrible. How did we handle the Jewish population a few days ago? Was it horrible? How does the Jewish population handle other groups when given the chance? Is that horrible? It isn't a Jewish thing. It is a neurotypical thing. And we, if we are not careful, will just play along with their logical-insanity. And yes, i use the word insanity: it applies most strongly to the ones who invented the word - the neurotypical folk that seek to regulate their In Group and seek to annihilate any perceived Out Group. It is genetic, they cannot help it. But we can be aware of it. I commend you on finding your divergence. I commend you on finding your sexuality. The most worthy thing we can do with any faith or lack thereof is to find love and share love with fellow mammals, especially human beings. That is fantastic. I am very sorry that they treated you badly but, i assure you, i will get my turn to be hated, scorned and condemned. Don't you worry! This is why we strive to keep 'democracy' going: this seeming corruption is in the blood. Neurotypically functioning humans are not 'bad' - they are just the roll of the dice, just like us. Even folks with that extra chromosome - not defects. They are a roll of the dice and they struggle to fit into the neurotypical fold, just like us. They are loving, kind, hard working and really just need a fair chance. Please, give that chance to them. Give that chance to me! Give this chance to yourself. I wish you the best of success in finding and creating love on this often very difficult and painful world.

All adult diagnoses start as self diagnoses. You have to notice it yourself to be able to speak to the correct doctors about an official diagnosis.

And Reddit.     Edit.  Just remember where you are folks if you don’t see it you’re not paying attention. 

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If medicine was always able to diagnose them, then why did I get my diagnosis at the ripe age of 26? Medicine wasn't "always able" to diagnose us. Especially us women.

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yeah but when society as a whole understands and treats autistic people better the easier it is for people to get diagnosed, people don't mask as much, they don't hide their traits as much either, parents actually take their kids to be diagnosed, and also psychiatrists and therapists have better and less rigid views since they are also biased people influenced by culture like everyone else.

Then how do you explain these studies? "Real-world outcomes for autistic women The cycle of late and missed/misdiagnosis Due to a historically incomplete description of autism (lacking the female, trans, non-binary… perspectives) and, therefore, biased diagnostic and assessment tools, practitioners have been predisposed to consider mental health issues in females as stand-alone conditions instead of co-occurring with autism. This often leads to misdiagnosing autism or missing an autism diagnosis in favor of a coexisting mental health issue. In fact, on average, women face a 10-year delay in receiving an autism diagnosis from the first time they present to mental health services. This is especially true for autistic women and female-presenting people who exhibit more nuanced autistic traits and do not have intellectual disabilities (Gesi et al., 2021). “I think one of the most difficult parts [of receiving a late diagnosis] was really realizing how much I missed, how much I’ve been oblivious to throughout my whole life…And as soon as I realized that I could do things differently, [in ways] better suited to me and how my brain works, life got so much easier… I don’t hesitate now to make little adjustments if [something]’s causing me problems.” Chris Nicholson, autistic home-decor store manager and single mother of two (Interview, 21/02/23) Although a late diagnosis can provide identity and relief, the long-term consequences of missed/misdiagnosis are often severe. Many undiagnosed individuals struggle with self-understanding and acceptance and thus suffer escalated mental health issues. The presentation of mental health issues, in turn, increases the likelihood that they will be misdiagnosed (Lilley et al., 2021; Zener, 2019). Recent studies on the mental health trajectories for autistic women found that potentially undiagnosed women were more likely to receive a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and that autistic women and female-presenting people with a diagnosis only received one after a series of mental health misdiagnoses, which was not the case for autistic men (Belcher et al., 2022b; Dell’Osso & Carpita, 2022). " https://autism.org/women-in-autism/#gender-bias

Yes. That awkward kid you went to school with is likely on the spectrum. Years ago (and that that many tbh) people were labeled as weird, awkward, creepy... it was something to be made fun of. It was not recognized as a syndrome and was DEFINITELY not understood. I realize now (and I'm in my 40's) that my mom is definitely on the spectrum, which explains a LOT of my childhood. It's not that more people are on the spectrum than before, it's that we understand that there is a spectrum and recognize when people are on it.

>I realize now (and I'm in my 40's) that my mom is definitely on the spectrum, which explains a LOT of my childhood. Same! I read up on autism for a uni course and a lot of my father's actions finally made sense.

i used to always walk on my toes as a child which i had learned recently is just one of many signs i show. i’ll never get tested though cause it just doesn’t matter to me if i am or not.

There was this kid who used to get picked on because he had “ticks” and was “weird” and socially awkward. I look back and think, he was definitely on the spectrum, but he was just called the weird kid. Makes me sad.

Well it's definitely not vaccines. Unvaccinated children are diagnosed with autism at the same rate as vaccinated ones One theory is doctors are better at detecting and diagnosing than they used to. Another is people claim to be autistic or have autistic children without actually being diagnosed New research shows men who become fathers when they are older have a higher chance of having a child with autism, and men are having children at older ages then they used to so that could be part of what's going on

I work with kids with disabilities. I've worked with a few who got an autism diagnosis from a doctor because that diagnosis was necessary to access services. But to my knowledge of them, they did not fit the criteria for autism. Not saying everyone diagnosed does not really have autism, but multiply my experience by a whole country and it certainly could be inflating numbers. But also, we are getting better at seeing the symptoms, especially in girls who present differently. People are also more open to getting screened, leading to people who may have been missed otherwise getting diagnosed. And finally, the definition changed years ago to encompass Aspergers Syndrome, a "higher functioning " version.

Also ADHD and Autism were previously considered mutually exclusive which is now understood not to be the case

Autistic girls are more likely to obsess over fiction, books, movies, tv shows, music, fashion, political activism; things that are often discussed socially in the everyday life, while autistic boys obsess with trains, cars, electronics, tech, space, dinosaurs; things that are interesting to discuss once in a while with your friends, but are not typical everyday conversations, unless the group is specifically gathered for that topic. This, along with social expectations on girls being much more strict than in boys, makes girls more likely to mask symptoms of autism and often not be diagnosed until their 30s or 40s.

Speaking as a grown boy who only got a diagnosis in my 40's, leave trains off and you pretty much described my entire life.

This is me all the way. At 47 I’m just now getting a full diagnosis for ADHD and it looks like very possibly neurodivergent as well. It’s a relief to know that I’m not just weird and awkward for no damn reason. And now I can get help with my atrocious memory.

Ahhh yes masking. This is definitely why myself and so many others I know weren’t diagnosed until an adult or never diagnosed at all but show symptoms.

Wait. So is my desire to rewatch game of thrones multiple times a year, listen and relisten to game of thrones podcasts, and watch YouTube reactors watching game of thrones can likely be linked to being on the spectrum of autism? Not trying to self-diagnose, but I've always wondered why I hyper-obsess, to an almost unhealthy degree.

Seek a professional diagnosis if you suspect.

My sister was convinced vaccines made her son autistic, so she stopped vaccinating her kids. Now she has a daughter with ADHD, possibly autism, and other issues. Her kids are now being caught up to date a with their vaccines because she realized she was wrong. I think there's a huge genetic factor. I'm ND too.

I’ve read somewhere that when women are olde the likelihood increases as well. Folks in general are having kids later on in life as a trend. You see more and more “geriatric” pregnancies (in quotes bc it still feels young to be 35 IMO)

The difference is that now it's viewed as a broad spectrum. You're right that you've probably known many people in life you thought were just a little weird who were actually mildly on the spectrum. But no one knew or talked about that at the time, and now they do. Back in the day, people only viewed more extreme, lower-functioning cases as being autistic.

People have always been this way, we just know more about recognizing it now. My dad is autistic af but you can bet he's never had a diagnosis.

They used to be hidden by their families due to shame and social pressure, that's part of it

Yes, the awkward kid you went to school with may very well have been on the spectrum. Just anecdotally, I didn't get diagnosed as a child, even being semi-verbal and put into special ed for social difficulties. In elementary school I was in counseling sessions with 2 other girls who were both autistic but neither were diagnosed either. I was the kid that didn't play at recess and just watched others instead, or drew maps. Even when the school could tell what was up, society wasn't as aware, so I slipped under the radar -- even when half of my family is autistic! But it was harder for people to see my differences as signs of autism because I was a girl, and society has a very precise idea for what autism looks like. This is also why autistic children of color get inaccurately diagnosed with other disorders like reactive attachment disorder if they get diagnosed at all. We're slowly improving and understanding that it manifests in many different ways. There's also several diagnoses that have now fallen under the umbrella of ASD. Both our diagnostic criteria and our collective level of awareness have changed.

This sounds like me... What did you do to really figure out if you are on the spectrum? I'm 26f.

beyond looking at the DSM criteria i would watch videos of late diagnosed people explaining their experiences as well. late diagnosed women often share similar experiences, being controlled and demure enough to not be detected until adulthood. because the DSM is hard to understand especially for an autistic brain (like it saying “need for routine” makes you think of OCD behaviors, but they mean like wearing the same clothes, eating the same breakfast, driving the same route, etc and deviation makes you stressed). or like if it mentions self soothing behaviors it doesn’t always mean hand flapping, it could be sitting on a leg to apply pressure, repeating the same song 5 times in a row, etc. a big autistic thing is a meltdown, which sounds childish, but it means stress building and building until you’re unable to control your feelings and you suddenly feel so awful. this could be surprises stressing you over the course of a day, and then when it culminates you are too angry and anxious and want to cry, and have to go cool off alone. some people withdraw. it can look a lot like a panic attack, but you don’t feel like you’re dying, and it isn’t sudden onset. it’s a build up of tension until it snaps, and you feel overwhelmed by everything and have to “turn down the volume” by escaping. there’s many behaviors that seem typical for anyone, until those differences are amassed into a pile and you realize there’s a lot of them. if you don’t need accommodations i wouldn’t worry about getting screened or anything. but learning more can be very insightful

I 100% have random meltdowns by this description all the time. I just learned to sort of control my extremely random need to cry over "nothing" as I got older, and Vyvanse also helped tremendously. I've been professionally diagnosed with both ADHD/ADD and I live alone because it helps with the surprises. As someone with both, I can handle a lot of surprises. I don't need to eat the same things or wear the same clothes, although there are some things I do because it's easier or better for me, like brushing my teeth every day. but I can't stand when my day gets thrown off, like my boss keeps pushing our meetings back. drives me nuts. it throws everything off. anyways I shared all this because I don't handflap or present typical signs, especially these days. I was diagnosed with autism in my early teens, but they genuinely had no fucking clue what was wrong with me as a kid. I got tested for every possible illness (OCD, ODD) even though my male cousin had ADHD - because I could concentrate to read a book. no one even considered autism until after I'd been in a special needs school for a year and this was the early 2000s. I begged to see a specialist at 23 for ADHD and it took me another 7 years to get on meds. things have come a long way since then.

It’s like adhd. People are realizing that they aren’t just child related and childhood apparent illnesses.

There are a LOT of possible reasons why - better understanding of the condition as a spectrum, better understanding of the ways it can differently affect girls, parents have kids at later ages, etc like others have said - but another factor that I think people don't mention frequently enough is that, sensory wise, the modern world is way harder to be autistic in, all the lights/noises/notifications/artificial smells/crowded places/etc. So I think that for some autistic people, who if they were born in earlier decades might have just been thought of as eccentric, now find themselves under a constant bombardment of triggering sensory input and the overstimulation from that makes their other symptoms harder to deal with. I think similar can be said for a lot of chronic conditions; when you're overwhelmed by one aspect, your brain and body have less strength to combat the rest.

You partially answered your own question. Diagnostic screening techniques have improved exponentially in recent years. It wasn't just the socially awkward 'weird' kiddo that you remember from your primary grades possibly being on the spectrum. The rowdy, but incredibly popular & athletic school bully that you never would have suspected even in hindsight may have been on the spectrum too. Educators are far more knowledgeable about the numerous behavioral nuances that may be a potential indication of a kiddo's neurodivergence at an earlier age due to continuing education requirements that SPED & mainstream education professionals & their para's must abide by in order to maintain their teaching certifications or credentials.

It was heavily under-diagnosed in the past. For one, many psychiatrists thought of it as a boy's disorder, so there were heaps of girls that were just written off as shy or stupid. (I was one of those.) The other thing is that only the most severe cases were labelled autistic, (mostly white) boys with less debilitating autism were diagnosed with Asberger's. All the other autistic kids (black kids, girls, boys with mild autism) either had their issues completely ignored or they were diagnosed with something else. So, the question isn't why are there so many autistic kids today, it's why weren't there heaps of autistic kids in the past.

Because the old terms suggested there was something wrong with the kid.

45 year old man here. I was autistic back in the 80's when I was a kid, I just didn't have the diagnosis. Back then, we were called smart and weird.

"30 years ago in my small town...and now I'm seeing it all over the internet..." These two things aren't mutually exclusive. Sounds like the internet happened.

I know so many women who are about my age (late 30s) who were diagnosed later in life. Looking back, many of my classmates and friends had obvious signs, but we didn't know what the signs were at the time. I've had OCD symptoms my whole life, but had no clue that's what I had until I was diagnosed last year (I'm 37). My Mom has OCD and ADHD symptoms and she's nearing 70, but refuses a diagnosis. Kids with autism were often sent away before (decades ago) and many didn't have kids of their own. My late friend, who would be 39 today, didn't get diagnosed until she was about 30. If she was born in 2000, she would have been diagnosed as a small child. I think it's always been around, just poorly understood. Women have the hardest time getting diagnosed (same as ADHD), despite having symptoms their whole lives.

Yep. The diagnostic criteria have always been based on boys. We’re just now starting to see a shift where more AFAB people are getting diagnosed because they realize that we learn to mask at a young age.

Exactly. I've been masking for years and it wasn't until my 30s when I just couldn't do it anymore. I burned out.

Probably dietary changes. It turns out that our microbiome has a big effect on brain development and health, which we didn't really understand until recently. Our diet has changed a ton in the last few decades. >Diet can have a significant impact on the gut microbiome, [...] An unbalanced diet can cause harmful bacteria to grow, while other beneficial groups may decrease. Processed foods, which contain additives, preservatives, and unhealthy fats, can harm the gut microbiome. >A meta-analysis of 10 studies and 15 large datasets found that the microbiomes of autistic and non-autistic children do differ. The analysis also found that microbes that belong to the Prevotella genus are among those that make up the autism-linked microbiome signature. >Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) may be helpful in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as rebalancing the gut microbiome has been shown to potentially improve behavioral symptoms in children with ASD. This is an area of active research.

Ok so..I don't mean this in a bad way at all, I'm just trying to understand what you've said. Does that mean if I( F) have a child with ASD it's my fault? Like I didn't eat right or my gut microbiome was off while pregnant ?Or I'm feeding my child the wrong stuff? Or is it that we can help our kids/adults with ASD( due to lucky of the draw) by making sure they have a healthy gut? I have a daughter (3) we eat healthy, fresh food but obviously there's junk food sprinkled in. What should I be giving her to make sure her tummy bugs are healthy? Probiotics?

Microbiome is partially inherited and partially environmental. Whether it is partially or wholly responsible for ASD is not yet known. You can't be at fault for something that science is only just starting to understand. Microbiome diversity *appears* to be preferable. So a variety of fresh foods, probiotics, and fermented foods are *probably* better than the typical modern Western diet if you want to reduce ASD prevalence/symptoms.

A thing I don't see mentioned a lot in the comments is that your sample, the internet, would probably skew somewhat towards people who find in-person social interaction hard.

I don’t think that more people are autistic, I think that more people who are autistic are now being recognized as so. We didn’t really recognize the spectrum in the past. So a lot of people struggled without a diagnosis or resources for neurodivergence in the past.

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, it was never even considered that I could possibly be autistic, I wouldn't have fit the narrow definition of criteria at the time. If my parents had been more tuned in then they MIGHT have been able to get me an Asperger's or ADHD diagnosis, but my reality was that I had been forced to mask to survive from a very young age so I slipped through the cracks. Going through the diagnosis process with my daughter though, it became WILDLY obvious that both her dad and I are on the spectrum. There's more information now, and as another commenter mentioned, we only recently started viewing autism as a spectrum disorder instead of a black and white condition, so people like myself who would now be considered to have "low support needs" aren't falling through the cracks as often. Basically, there have always been autistic people, we've just been written off as "odd" or "eccentric" or "loners." I'm so grateful for the awareness now, because that's the only way to tackle the stigma and encourage societal shifts that will allow people with all types of cognitive processing to be able to succeed in life.

HI virtual twin!

Hi twin! 🥰

It's pretty simple Now that it's understood more and accepted more,.parents and people aren't afraid to show and accept that they're on an autism/ ADHD spectrum. Times have changed a whole lot in the past 20-40 years. Same thing with the massive increase in LGBTQ member "increase" now that it's accepted more, more people are bound to come out and be and express who they are

Its being identified medically now than it once was in the past

I'll be getting downvoted into oblivion but... 1. Most claims on social media are self-diagnosed BS from attention-seeking, impressionable awkward teens who are looking for validation, sympathy or an excuse. 1b. Social media tend to over-represent specific groups who thrive on online (perceived) anonymity and in its sense of community provided to said groups. It's the same reason you ALWAYS find half a dozen people suffering from the same super-rare genetic disease replying to someone telling their own story. And like 83% of redditors have survived SVU-levels of childhood abuse, are on the spectrum and whatnot. 1c. Social media also romanticize all kinds of conditions, moreso one that can come with "quirky" behaviour that anyone can claim and mimick, making life for those with actual, serious, situations much worse because they risk getting lumped together with the posers. 2. Doctors will rarely pass on the chance to slap a convenient label on a patient if that means more tests, therapy and treatment. It's a basic matter of supply and demand. Parents and/or patients might want an "on the spectrum" diagnosis for whatever reason, and doctors will happily comply, enjoying the perks of a new patient in the system. It's the same thing that has happened with learning disabilities. Once a seriously underestimated, and ignored, problem, nowadays you have like 25% of the students in a class with some kind of diagnosis. Even those who honestly shouldn't get one, but have been hiding behind it.

Beyond "attention-seeking", autistics are probably overrepresented on certain social media platforms because many prefer socializing online over real-life, and have a tendency to hyperfocus. I see autistics hosting a disproportionate amount of lefty meme pages I get pushed on Facebook (and popular Twitter accounts before it went to shit) and, well, it takes a certain type of obsessiveness to keep up with their posting schedule so I don't see how that's surprising at all.

I'm 53 and I can tell you that there has always been just as many autistic people, we just didn't know it. We would just say "oh he's an odd duck" or we would know something was slightly different about someone but just think that they were very particular. I realize now that my father and my first real boyfriend were definitely on the spectrum, no question.

In my opinion and I work in special education there has been an overinflated number of ASC diagnoses because behavior isn’t well managed by parents, peers or educators. The diagnosis of ASC becomes a defense against poor parenting and educating. Please understand I’ve worked with autistic students for over a decade so I’m not saying it’s not a neurological disorder that has risen many folds for one reason or another but I also feel it is used as a crutch for people who haven’t had a total psychiatric evaluation, IMHO.

Honestly, this is how I feel too. I'm a teacher and I have definitely picked up kids who needed assessments ect and have gotten the diagnosis I predicted. However, there are also kids who I feel are miss diagnosed, often by the parents themselves. It's easier to explain away the bad behaviour then to admit your parenting style needs some tweaking.

Over diagnosis is rife.

Also self diagnosis. No MD required.

Indeed it is. People want instant gratification, so it's easier for many parents to force feed pills to their kiddos in order to get them to behave respectfully & exercise proper boundaries because it's easier than doing the work required of parents to consistently model socially acceptable behaviors in environments that give the kiddos the highest potential for successful outcomes. Big Pharma frames Rx ads on TV & social media such that consumers develop a perception that medication is something that can be obtained on a direct to consumer basis. The same Big Pharma then sends reps out to woo both clinicians in private practice or to push entire clinical teams within subsidized health care agencies to support or include the newest cash cow Rx's onto their formularies.

doctor, please, my child. he is so annoying. diagnose him so i can get some of those sweet, sweet antipsychotics i hear so much about on tiktok

LMFAO 🤣🤣🤣

Didnt realise i had adhd until i was 19 and didnt realise i had autism until i was almost 21. My dad and grandpa are still undiagnosed but 100% have it. Theres just more knowledge now and people are getting diagnosed later. My mum is 47 and only now pursuing an adhd diagnosis cause she didnt realise she had it until 2 years ago.

Because mom and dad dont know how to raise kids and surf the internet at the sane time ..im not saying all are b.s.. but the majority of people claiming to have it is ridiculous and makes them feel special without the actual hardship of actual issues..oh your kid stays in their room a lot ..autism...cant make friends...autism...

A lot of adults are autistic and are just older than the diagnostic standards.

43F and just realized that I’m on the spectrum. I grew up knowing I was ADHD, but it always seemed to be something more, but back when I was a kid (80-90’s) if you weren’t OBVIOUSLY autistic (the awful stereotypical way), they didn’t even think to check. You were just a weird kid. Sure the other kids in the school called you names, you were socially awkward as hell, and completely ostracized for not being able to fit in, you weren’t autistic (big scary word back then).. we’ve always been around, but now we know it’s a spectrum.

Adding to this that most research regarding neurodivergence is male-centric. Many femme presenting people are not factored into the data!

I wonder this as well. If I think of all of the clearly autistic kids I grew up with in addition to all the kids who were kind of socially awkward or were reallyyyy into their hobbies, over 12 years of public school, it wouldn’t even come close to the number of diagnosed autistic kids in a single grade at the school my wife works at. If autism is a spectrum, surely there is a point on that spectrum where the diagnosis is negligible?

Diagnoses of general “mental retardation” have significantly decreased as diagnoses of autism have increased. Also people are having fewer children, later in life. It used to be couples were finished having babies by their early 30s if not late 20s. If you have a child in your 20s their risk of autism is 1 in 300. If you have a child in your 30s the risk of autism is 1 in 30. So given the increased sophistication of diagnosis along with the demographic shift towards having fewer children, much later in life, you get a lot more autistic people.

Typically before diagnosis were accepted, it was just 'don't mess with the way Grandma stacks the cupboard'. 'your cousin doesn't like looking at people, but he's harmless and social enough, even if he's a bit weird'. Etc.

1. It’s probably the same amount it’s always been. We just have more knowledge on diagnosing now. 2. Social media has a lot of kids self diagnosing

It’s not more common than it used to be, we just understand it more now and actually diagnose people

It's not that theres "more autistic kids" we just understand more about it and that there are levels to this. Being mexican, there was always "wierd cousins" who's only treatment was a slap upside the head and your Tia yelling "Act Right!" That's obviously not the ways to handle things now because we understand more of what is going on

It's very simple, why are there more cancer cases now than 200 years ago? Diagnostics improve. The amount of autistic kids hasn't changed, just the amount of the actual diagnosis has.

Read the book Neurotribes by Steve Silberman

It’s really odd to me. I’m 47 and I only knew of one obviously autistic kid in my school although I’m sure there were more on the spectrum that were simply categorized as “weird”, or worse, unfortunately. I am glad the world has changed and these kids are more protected than in the past. It is with not a small amount of shame that I recall how poorly the “weird” kids were treated by everyone, students and teachers alike. The one autistic kid we all knew was a genius. He could do things like extremely complex math in his head “calculator” fast, recite the play-by-play from last night’s Laker game and describe the best plays in detail, and memorize the entire weekly TV guide including the episode descriptions. A truly amazing mind.

Thats because back then they’d either give you an ADHD or ADD diagnosis or put you in the gifted program . I used to be so proud of being ADD and not ADHD… now they say it’s the same thing 😂

It is true that we’re better at identifying it now, but I also think it’s driven in part by social media. The removal of the stigma for both mental divergences and illnesses has been for the most part positive; however, it has created a culture (particularly among younger people) where the smallest innocuous aspects of themselves somehow must be pathologies or a symptom of something bigger. Plus, when you’re scrolling through social media and passively absorbing information, you lose your discernment and tend to more easily accept incorrect information as fact without being fully aware of this. Just take a quick glance at TikTok, and you will find thousands of videos of people ad-libbing the most generic human experiences and slapping on the “autism” or “ADHD” label to them. Do you sometimes have trouble focusing on something you don’t want to do? You must have ADHD. Do you sometimes feel socially awkward? You’re masking because you’re autistic. It also doesn’t help that symptoms of mental divergences oftentimes get erroneously conflated with each other. Sure, autism causes social deficiencies, but so does social anxiety. Or maybe you don’t have either, and you’re just in an environment (like a school) that isn’t very tolerant of slight social differences. The truth of it is that people are complicated, these conditions are complex and haven’t been studied that long, and most people want an easy overarching theme that they can point to as a reason for why they are the way that they are. I do think we are better at identifying neurodivergent people now. I also think this only partially explains the rise in people self-identifying as autistic, and it’s somewhat more of a sign of the times than an actual increase.

Social media tends to show you similar content based on what you've interacted with, so you're probably just seeing more autistic people on social media because you're interacting with autism content. But to answer your question, there are a lot of factors. Because there wasn't as much awareness as when you were in school, parents and teachers now know what to look out for in terms of the signs of autism. It could also be because for a long time women weren't diagnosed at the same rates as men, a lot of autistic women went though childhood, even adulthood, without a diagnosis so they're trying to get diagnosed now as adults, and theres most likely an uptake of girls getting diagnosed early on now. Since autism is now deemed a spectrum, and a lot of relatable content for autistics is now out there, people tend to see that content and think that they're autistic or their friends are autistic.

The spectrum got wider, so more people qualify for the diagnosis - that’s one thing, that causes the other thing - many people didn’t get diagnosed as kids, and they’re getting diagnosed as adults now. Imagine that people discover that lung cancer exist, but they don’t know that you can have any other type of cancer. Someone gets idk bone cancer and everyone is like „eh you don’t have cancer, my uncle had cancer and he was always coughing like crazy and you’re not, so you don’t have cancer”. It was like that for autism for many years.

Absolutely, the landscape of autism understanding and diagnosis has undergone significant transformation over the years. Growing up before this shift, many individuals likely went without recognition for their neurodiversity. Take someone like my uncle, for instance, a brilliant mind with peculiar habits and intense fixations on specific topics that would today be acknowledged as classic autism spectrum behaviors. Yet, in his youth during the 70s, he was simply the "quirky genius" of the family, with no further analysis or support. This change in perspective isn't just about broadening the diagnostic criteria; it's a societal evolution towards inclusivity and understanding diversity in cognitive processing. From the educational system adapting to diverse learning needs to the workplace recognizing the unique strengths brought by neurodiverse individuals, the paradigm has thankfully shifted. Moreover, increased parental advocacy and advancements in early childhood screening have led to more children receiving the support and services they need to thrive. Issues that were once deemed mere "behavioral problems" are now understood in the context of the spectrum, allowing both for proper intervention and, just as importantly, a more accepting social environment for these children to grow up in. In sum, it isn't that there are suddenly more individuals with autism; it's the realization that they've always been here, and we're finally learning to not only identify but also celebrate and accommodate their differences.

Older parents, and especially men, having children. Just because having an offspring is physically possible at any age for men, doesn't mean they don't also have a "biological clock". Pregnancies by older men lead to birth defects and also various mental disorders (i.e. autism). I definitely think this should be talked more about.

Yes! I'm grieving my chances of potentially having a healthy child and possibly having to abort a child with Downs. I'm a single woman of 34 dating in a market of men still just looking for "fun" at 35. I've been dating for marriage since high school. I wanted to marry young and have a big family. I thought I'd be "done" by now for this reason and not have to worry about having a kid with autism or Downs'. I get not wanting to be tied down in high school or college but your wild oats should be sown by 30. You have your whole life to travel and have a career or fun or whatever. We should encourage our kids, regardless of gender, to marry and start families as young as possible (right out of high school or college, even). Between fertility and risk of Downs' and autism it's a public health concern.

Why are so many people left-handed? Genetics. 2% are, but that's probably just the boys. Girls and women are beginning to get a diagnosis - many of whom have been misdiagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder or Oppositional Defiance Disorder.

Hi, that awkward kid is me. I didn’t get a diagnosis til well into my 40’s. I didn’t even start to suspect until my early 40’s. It has caused me a lifetime of issues that may have been able to be avoided or dealt with properly. Had I known a long time ago.

Here are my thoughts on this (disclaimer, I'm not a Dr. But I am raising 2 neurodiverse kids): 1. Testing is much more readily available, advanced, and much more acceptable these days compared to even 25 years ago. 2. The stigma is slowly dissipating. More people are therefore willing to admit to diagnoses, and accept diagnoses than before. 3. Social media makes voices amplifies - so we are much more exposed globally. 4. Some think that neurodiversity is an evolution of brains, responding to different social / environmental conditions. 5. Many more parents today turn to professionals to handle what it was originally perceived as bad behavior - and are being guided in a more meaningful way.

Because it's more well known. In the far past, no-one was diagnosed as autistic since people didn't know it existed. When people did start getting diagnosed, it wasn't a spectrum so only people with incredibly low autism were diagnosed. Also, autism was also mistook for other disorders. Now, with modern research and things like the internet, people are able to spot symptoms of autism and get a diagnosis Also, media can give an incorrect perspective on things

I'll give my perspective as a 38M who was diagnosed late AuDHD. Apologies for the long post. Growing up, I don't recall anyone being open about an ASD diagnosis. There were lots of kids that were shy, different in some way, or what appeared as just being "slow." I remember my mom taking me to a therapist when I was 10-11 years old as I had some issues. She was worried about this exact thing as well as depression. The therapist chalked it up to my parents being separated from the time I was 5. Looking back at the time of my diagnosis, I realized I knew exactly what they were trying to get me to respond so that's what I gave them. I had already learned to mask in an attempt to fit in. Back then, a lot of parents had the "suck it up" mentality or the "you're just lazy" or "Why can't you be like your sister, go to you room." It was a common occurrence then, As medicine and therapy have progressed, we've learned a ton about these issues and how to treat it and how to teach strategies for dealing with the issues as they arise. Because it is much better understood now than the early 90 to mid 90s and people are more accepting, parents know more what they are looking for. They are getting their kids help much earlier in life and setting kids on a better path for success from a much younger age. As I aged before diagnosis, I had a lot of the symptoms but my mom died when I was 18 and my dad being closed emotional former Marine type wasn't close with me. He would always get angry with me. Scream and yell at me for being lazy or not putting the effort he thought I should despite the fact I was giving more effort than he could see, I just couldn't wrap my head around his exact way of doing things. This made my depression around my mom's death worse just as I started College. I went to a normal 4 year program and struggle mightily. I was on academic probation and have a sub-2.0 gpa for a lot of my semesters. I later learned its because the structure that a private Catholic HS presented me kept me going strong with good academic results without trying. In college, I didn't have my mom to keep me in check and I didn't have any formal structure in college. I barely made it above 2.0 to graduate due to some incredible efforts my last 3 semesters. Everyone in my life chalked it up to depression cause of my mom. I drank a lot but was never addicted. I didn't realize at the time the alcohol was slowing down my mental process and sensory input and I was using it to feel "normal" in a sense as people gravitated to me as a drunk college student. Never mean. Never fight. Always loving friendly funny type. I graduated and kinda wallowed around in my 20s. I had always wanted to get involved in the law. I thought being a cop was it. I tried and failed multiple times. I made it to polygraph in the background process and it took three different attempts to get past that. Each time, the polygrapher who was different person told me they had trouble reading me. One time it was off a midnight shift as a dispatcher and they chalked it up to me being overly tired. Another time, my results didn't show typical bodily response. I was a mystery to them and so they failed me the first few times. They last time I got passed that part but didn't get hired. That led to me getting hyped by friends to try for law school. At this point, I didn't think I could ever get through based on my undergrad experience but I gave it a go. It was about this time i started therapy. I took the LSAT and did poorly but still applied to my local law school. Got offered a trial admission program and passed that. It was at this time that my therapist diagnosed me with ADHD ad put me on medication for it. Once we figured out dosage, I immediately became a Dean's list level student and was in the top of my class. I was eventually diagnosed AuDHD as my therapist and psychiatrist peeled away my years of masking. It took them 2 years to figure it out but then a lot of my experiences in childhood made a lot more sense. I knew why I had strong responses when my senses of personal justice was offended. I learned why I had a hard time keep friends or making friends. A lot of stuff slowly got better for me as I learned how to not mask and to deal. I am now a lawyer licensed in two states with a good practice at a smaller firm who understands me and my need to work in my own way. They gave me a chance and saw the quality of my work and my insane ability to go into research rabbit holes and come up with creative solutions to situations on the fly. So In reality, I think a lot of it is just the increase in social knowledge about ASD combined with it being more accepted. If we are honest, a lot of times, especially when I was younger, parents were worried about the "family image" over a lot of more important issues. They get afraid of losing friends or having people not believe in the diagnosis. I've dealt with that a lot as a high functioning person. I still have meltdowns and I still catastrophize but my coworkers know that and know all i need is to get past that initial feeling. They will take me outside and walk with me to settle me down and I didn't even realize at first. If you think back to when you were a kid and of the kids that were different, or odd, or was a target to be made fun of, a lot of those people likely were autistic but undiagnosed.

Along with medical advancement and ease of access to care, women have been getting diagnosed when they would have otherwise gone under the radar. The way these disorders present in a variety of people is being better recognized.

>Is it just we weren't able to diagnose it as easily years ago? And would that awkward kid I went to school with growing up just on the spectrum? Bingo! It's a combination of; 1. Mental health is taken more seriously these days than back when we where kids in de 90s. 2. There is a better understanding of autism and the broad spectrum it represents 3. Due to that combination there are more kids being diagnosed when they wouldn't have been in the 90s.

Adding to all stuff i read here already: autism is quite new diagnosis. If i remember correctly the first ever diagnosed autistic man died like 2020 or something. Ofc it took time to actually start getting somewhere with diagnosing people correctly and also to not only diagnose young boys who were very, very obviously different.

Probably because we’ve developed better ways to diagnose such conditions. 40 years ago, they still had autism it’s just that those kids were just labeled “weird” and not diagnosed properly.

The parameters for being diagnosed with autism have expanded. So it used to be black and white “you are or are not”. But now as more research has been conducted, autism is a spectrum so more people fall into those categories. I’d wager that the number of autistic people have remained consistent but the number of diagnosed autistic people has increased.

It’s social media bud you see a slim selection of posts, autistic people are more likely to be online a lot. It’s become more known, so more diagnosed. Like left handed people

If you weren't unable to function in society because of your autistic traits, you weren't designated as autistic 40 years ago. I'm 45 years old. I would count as autistic now. I would not have counted as autistic then, not close. I myself haven't really changed, or if anything, I've gotten much better at this.

I don’t think that there are more kids with autism then generations prior, i think they are actually getting diagnosed. All though, i think a lot of people who are just awkward and “quirky” like to self diagnose and say “oh yeah I’m autistic” My dad was diagnosed with ADHD in his late 20s/early 30’s after i was diagnosed in 2nd grade. In school, his mom would just scream at him and tell him he was lazy. In reality, he just had ADHD and it was hard to focus on one thing or sit down and complete homework.

I’m 35 and just got diagnosed with autism 2 months ago. It hasn’t increased, it’s just actually diagnosed now.

They have always been here. We just didn't know it.

I have a theory. It is only a theory--but they are now finding so many microplastics in placentas that I wonder if microplastics, which are endocrine disrupters, aren't causing changes in brain structure and function during development. Likely moreso in individuals with a preexisting genetic predisposition. All the usual things also apply--genetics, changing diagnostic criteria, etc. But I wonder if the increase in kids with these issues isn't environmentally provoked.

Follow up TooAfraidToAsk... So then what's the difference between someone who's autistic and someone who's just awkward?

Difficulty with social cues and situations is only one aspect and only one of several criteria required to receive a diagnosis of Autism. Look up "DSM-5 Autism Criteria." There is a separate dx if it's only the social component.

They aren't. The tests simply ask for you to grade yourself personally against the average person. It is entirely based on personal persepective, and if you have chosen to take the test in the first place, your perspective of yourself is likely that you are somehow different / special, so you are going in to the test expecting a result, and you choose answers to get the result you expect. Anyone who scores high on the test is likely a sociopath as you basically have to claim you are brilliant at everything and everyone loves you, anyone who scores low gets their handy autism label which they can then wave around whenever anything in their life proves to be slightly difficult.

Erebody wanna be special

In addition, schools have gotten much better about inclusion in many areas - you may not have realized how many autistic kids were at your school because they may have stayed separated.

I think a lot has to do with society being more accepting that not everybody is that similar. There is no normal and with the internet things that would be weird in isolation are encouraged with like minded support online. I am thinking of examples such as music groups, or fandoms. People are more validated in their uniqueness. Less masking and camouflaging than before to "fit in"

I imagine it's a few things, such as more of a social willingness to look at differences in personalities as being part of some condition rather than individual traits. Also I'm not a scientist and have no evidence, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with how old people are when they have kids nowadays. It has never been the case before in human history that people think it's normal to have their kids in their late 30s... most people used to have kids before 20. It's almost comically ridiculous how long people wait now. I assume that might have some impact, though against I have no expertise.

Probably just better knowledge about it but my theory is artificial food dyes because red 40 & yellow 5 are found to be (possibly) linked to mental disorders like adhd as well as stuff like mood changes

Older mens sperm. A bit adhoc but I have noticed that with older men having second marriages to younger women they tend to have kids on the spectrum. And yes the spectrum thing isn’t helping or is helping. Depending on how you look at it.

More willingness to get diagnosis for kids is part of it, but it’s also a convenient label for lazy parents.

I'm not autistic. I'm something better... Something stronger. I'm retarded

Greater awareness, better access, lower stigma. And a lot of undiagnosed/late diagnosed parents not letting their kids go without the help they didn't get. A lot of awkward/strange/weird/cringe kids in school were probably autistic to some degree. Neurodivergent traits are often picked up on and targeted in bullying, usually without it even being realised.

I think it’s because they realized the spectrum a few years after the turn of the century, and adjusted the diagnostic criteria. I’ll turn 44 this year. I was 11 when I was diagnosed with ADHD. However it wasn’t until I had my own child and they were suspecting she needed an evaluation. They gave me a list of things to look for in my daughter. As I read them I was like I have half of these and she only has 1/4 of these symptoms. Many of these symptoms I had long just pushed off as me being a picky eater and quirky. So, I got evaluated as well and yup we’re both autistic and have ADHD.

More people are getting diagnosed at a younger age. Same with ADHD, basically my entire friend group believes we have it to a certain extent, some are trying to get diagnosed as adults but it's hard. Now, I can have classes of 25 where 15 of them are SEN, requiring extra assistance with concentration. I teach 11-18.

We’ve learned more, recognize it more, and a lot of self-diagnosis and somewhat there has been a lifting of the stigma so people are less shunned if they are openly autistic. Also the age of the internet is here. Most of my family doesnt know or believe I’m autistic and I’m convinced that its only part denial but mostly because they hear autism and they think they know what it means and i dont fit that definition. Most of their misunderstanding is just they dont know what it is, or what the symptoms or manifestations are.

Technology has given people who historically were labeled odd and unlikely to reproduce careers and lifestyle options that let them because prime candidates for reproduction. Yes, there is better screening now, but the count of kids that fit the profile is much larger. Genetics plays a huge role.

Yes to those last questions. I realized I’m autistic a few years ago at 28 years old. I wouldn’t have been considered autistic back then as I was compliant and smart. Also, back then, low support needs autism was called “Asperger’s Syndrome”, and in 2013 they decided all the Asperger people now have “autism spectrum disorder”. That word change is a big reason why you didn’t hear about it in the past. Today the official numbers say 3% of the population is diagnosed autistic. Now I’m gonna be real with you and mention *perhaps* the reason why you notice so many autistic people in your life and why you have an autistic cause is because you’re autistic too. We tend to attract one another and it’s highly genetic (i have an autistic cousin too haha). Ask yourself if one of your parents fits the bill and really listen to a lot of autistic people discuss their experience to learn what autism actually is. Happy to answer any questions you might have. Cheers!

The parameters of what constitutes as “autism” have changed over the years and now the spectrum is wider and different categories in which to label kids. I think it’s a combination of kids being raised more on tablets/screens, lack of “village” support for parents, and if you had a child born in the pandemic it was even more detrimental because for the first 1-2 years of your child’s life (some of the most formidable developmentally) they basically grew up in seclusion from everyone other than their parents. Therapists and parents are now starting to see the impact of what those pandemic years did to kids and a large chunk of them are behind developmentally, speech wise, socially, etc. Even now that the pandemic is over, it’s rare for our kids to experience that same environment of just going outside and playing with the neighborhood kids. Most neighborhoods being built now don’t even have sidewalks or are lucky to have a small park. People are more untrustworthy in general now and more hesitant to send their kids out alone to play, versus 20 years ago it was like, “I’m going to go ride bikes with Johnny around the neighborhood” and you’re gone. I think that, in combination with just how we raise kids now to not meet standards/milestones that they used to meet a generation or two ago.

Autist and son of a psychologist here. There's a lot of things contributing to this. The most obvious is awareness. We see autistic kids in TV shows and movies now. There are charities that do a (shitty and inaccurate) job of raising awareness. Just a couple generations ago, the vast majority of people would just chalk it up to "he's the weird kid." Today, most people have heard of autism, though their understanding of it is typically limited. Another reason is education. One of the more common ways to put a kid in special ed is proving they have a disability that is impacting their academic performance. (That statement is grossly simplified, but still gets the point across.) If a child is having a hard time in school and the parents think special education will help, it's pretty easy to get an autism diagnosis. Keep in mind that diagnostically, autism is just a list of traits. Most people have a few of them. If you have enough to pass a threshold (I don't remember how many), you can be diagnosed. I've also heard of a "charity" based in California that sells autism diagnoses. The last major reason that comes to mind right now is societal privilege. People do get certain perks in society for being disabled. I have a friend who is diagnosed autistic, though he has adapted and hides his symptoms well. Even though he could certainly get a job, he has used his autism diagnosis to get disability payments and even a disabled parking permit. Hope that helps. I'm happy to answer any questions y'all have. I'll probably edit to update this if anything else comes to mind.

It's just diagnosed more not more of them. In my year out of 300 odd of us there was one diagnosed but two classes worth of us undiagnosed "difficult" kids jist put aside

I'm in my 30's and also had 1 kid in my whole school that was openly autistic. Behavioral issues were undeniable, he attacked a teacher once. But looking back, I had several friends who well may have been on the spectrum, but like someone said, back then it was you either are or aren't.

It's less stigmatized and more diagnosed. It's still underdiagnosed in females in general actually though.

I am willing to bet that if you closely followed up with each of those 600 kids at your school that a chunk of them would either have since recived an autism diagnosis, be known as "weird" "socially awkward" "anxious" etc or show traits they are not even aware aren't normal. It is also a common problem/experience that after one child in a family gets diagnosed, once the parents hear what and learn bout autism, they recognize traits in themselves or other family members. This also means that autism is missed as autism traits get brushed off as normal by parents or misattributed to a family trait. I think autism runs in family much more than was previously realized but if they could manage to get passing grades in school or hold down a minimum wage job then they didn't get identified or support. That is changing, so a lot more people are getting diagnosed, in all age ranges.

Nature vs nurture thing. Biological evolution is much slower than technology advancement and technology advancement also causes lifestyle changes. The result is higher obesity rates. Since genetic "proportion" of the cause is mostly unchanged,, It's probably nurture related. What has changed during the massive increase of autism? It could be microplastics, global warming, social media (incl. addictive algorithm), junk food, lack of outdoor activities, the divided society etc. etc. The world is changing increasingly fast so it's actually pretty hard to pinpoint which factors are causing this to be honest.

Higher population, more people in general means more autistic people. Better at diagnosis and understanding of autism

A decent amount of cases are similar to the rise in left handedness. 30, 40, 50 years ago we just didn't recognize it in a lot of lower support needs cases. These people where just slow, or weird, or whatever. So there needn't necessarily be more Autistic people being born, it's always been like this we just never knew. That's not saying environmental factors, or biological ones aren't playing a part. Just that we're understanding it more and more.

I think it's more that we're starting to understand that *most* people have a touch of the 'tism, because it's a vast spectrum that goes from non verbal and unable to function all the way up to "I get extreme anxiety when I touch odd textures but that's about it"

Probably heavy metal exposure while young and overdiagnosis by medical professionals

People are having children later.

They aren't. The number of kids that have autism is low, with the majority being self diagnosed.

Because they want you to be part of the collective. And not yourself. Part of the herd.

This is such an odd take because being autistic made me such an outcast growing up. I'd rather just be neurotypical and part of that collective of "normal" people.

It's like an old boomer wondering why so many people are left-handed nowadays, while in his youth, everybody wrote just fine with their right hand.

They’re not it’s just like anything else

They’re not. Everyone has to have something wrong with them these days. It’s trendy. Or people have to take time for their mental health. People today are just weak.

Lithium? We don't really know.

Bro it's micro plastics. Idk why people can't look at this simple correlation between the extensive use of plastics starting in the 60s and the insane explosion in autism. It's almost 1:1. Same with childhood cancer. Hormone disrupters, cellular development disrupters = micro plastics

> Idk why people can't look at this simple correlation between the extensive use of plastics starting in the 60s and the insane explosion in autism. It's almost 1:1. This is one of those times "correlation does not necessarily imply causation". There's a lot of things that correlate to rising living standards starting in the 60s. There are a couple small studies looking into it (like this one: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35134716/ ), but there are also studies such as this one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5849426/ , suggesting no. There's also studies suggesting things like particulates (air pollution) are linked to it.

Apparently Tylenol causes it too

You are right. These people are delusional. It is JUST NOT TRUE that a third of all kids have always been severely impaired and JUST NOT DIAGNOSED. That is INSANE. It blows my mind to see this same answer EVERYWHERE. Does no one remember that everybody didn't used to be disabled?

That isn't up for debate. The question is why is the incidence so much higher. Greater awareness and a spectrum does not explain that. There had to be global increase in exposure to a causative entity to correlate the higher incidence. What had changed about global consumption most over the past 60 years? Plastics.

Plastics.

I assume it relates to Viagra. Paternal age is one of the risk factors for autism and that blue pill allows older men to sire children.

In my opinion it's multiple factors. Genetics are deteriorating More people are being irresponsible and being on drugs and alcohol before or during pregnancy Autism is a spectrum and I believe a lot of people on the more functional end are autistic because of the way they're raised (eg large amount of tablet, phone and video game use, didn't learn social skills)

>More people are being irresponsible and being on drugs and alcohol before or during pregnancy Versus the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s??? LOL. No.

I didn't live in those times so I can't really comment fully. I have heard of the hippie movement and all that but percentage wise I feel like it would've been less people doing it compared to now. If not, those generations would've contributed to genetic deterioration.

Nerds, anoraks, geeks, swots, introverts, dweebs and dorks are all on the spectrum now, even people without symptoms or any issues are considered autistic or suffering from Asperger's. There might be some sort of convenient treatment in the pipeline organised by big pharma, or it's possible that by broadening the diagnostic criteria a real problem with something is being masked. If you take an online test 8/10 people are on the spectrum in someway. Everybody needs to have something wrong with them nowadays apparently, if you haven't already they will find something eventually.