re: A Question For Medical Experts Here; What Do You Think Caused the Spike in Autism?

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Obtw, do you even admit that there's been an obvious increase in Autism over the years? Are you not smart enough to realize that there can be multiple reasons for any given phenomen?

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Karla, take a deep breath and read. I literally responded to your question with the reason for this increase just a few posts up

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Underreporting and they have expanded the umbrella that covers autism so a lot more classify.

This is the correct answer to anyone who doesn't rely on political sources for their scientific info.

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Your inability to acknowledge that at least part of the increase is legitimate tells me that you are both a sellout and a "company man."

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Your inability to read tells me you are a useful idiot.

“Company man?” Haha what does that even mean. What company do I work for?

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Hence, you are pro-Big Pharma. Own it.

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You got me buddy! These Bih Pharma direct deposits are funding my very lucrative lifestyle!

This is what I mean by useful idiot. This is new maga simpleton insult: any medical professional who disagrees with me is a big Pharma sell out! Just follow your orders.

There is no spike in the number of people with symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. There is a spike in the diagnosis. That is attributed to a significant loosening of the criteria over the years. Additionally, the general public, educators, even professionals are much more aware and educated on the early identification of symptoms of autism. Pediatricians now do early screenings for autism several times during infancy and toddlerhood. That was not the standard practice 25 or more years ago. Furthermore, more people are coming out of the woodwork for the diagnosis.

What is now known as a level one autism spectrum disorder would not have been diagnosed with autism in the past. Level one accounts for more than half of those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. That alone explains most of the spike in diagnoses. In the past, most of those with level one would not have been diagnosed at all, and those that were would have received a diagnosis such as pervasive development disorder NOS or Asperger’s disorder.

Those dungeons and Dragon kids in high school and all the other super nerds – many of those could be diagnosed today with ASD. Computer programmers from the 70s and 80s and onward. The same, at least a lot of them.

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What is now known as a level one autism spectrum disorder would not have been diagnosed with autism in the past.

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The word has lost all meaning because of that, though. It's like saying "Well, he doesn't play in the NBA but he's on the NBA spectrum" about me because I can dribble a basketball.

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just like a nonverbal stimming head banger.

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That's a shitty way to describe those kids.

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That's a shitty way to describe those kids.

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I’ll change it snowflake

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I’ll change it snowflake

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No need, people say far worse here. I just hope your attitude isn't reflected in your practice if you're a medical type.

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taking politics out of it, we really need to fix this problem.

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Correct line of thought!

So many things have been introduced on the past half century we know little about. The highest correlation seems to be genetic so the question to seek maybe what is affecting our genetic code.

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I also think the surge in vaccines has been a significant factor.

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I think this is a smokescreen. I am old enough to remember going door to door for the "March of Dimes" and have seen firsthand the ravages of polio. While I do think a very small portion of the population have an adverse reaction to the vaccine, the number is acceptable to save the vast majority of the population.


Consider this, roughly a century ago, average life expectancy was 44 years. A decade or so later this number had risen to around 67. While no major medical breakthrough occurred the rise of hand washing was marked by lots of companies entering the soap business was the apparent cause.

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While I do think a very small portion of the population have an adverse reaction to the vaccine, the number is acceptable

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It's acceptable if that's their choice.

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A diagnosis does not change one thing about a person or their characteristics.

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No, but it typically does change how much public money is spent on them, hence the suspicion that it's over-diagnosed. It's been financially incentivized. The digital nature of the diagnosis renders the word nearly meaningless.

I'm going to guess you're a social worker of some sort. Good on you.

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It's acceptable if that's their choice.

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So if I get drafted and had to serve and was killed, that was my choice?

Perhaps you never heard of Mary Mallon aka Typhoid Mary. I am old enough to remember tale told by the older generations of my family.

Mallon's case became the first in which an asymptomatic carrier was discovered and isolated forcibly. The ethical and legal issues raised by her case are still discussed.