re: How many autistic kids did you know when you were young?

The population in the US in 1970 was around 200 million. Now it’s 350 million, depending on the actual amount of undocumented people that are/aren’t counted. So there will definitely be more cases, but the main reason is categorization of autism. Of course there were cases in 1970 that weren’t called autism. Those were the slow, or special kids. I think the qualifications to be “on the spectrum” have been loosened over the years. And 50 years or so of medicine has given them a better understanding, or at least the ability to put a label on it.

None, but I am sure there were plenty in the special ed classroom. You know the one classroom up by the front of the school near the office.

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We didn’t know there was another option.

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You were:

1. Retarded
2. Special Ed
3. Both

Those were the only choices

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Autism today is starting to mean nothing at all.

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Autism is real, and it can looks very different from the “Tennis Story” stereotype. There are kids who are nonverbal, stim 24/7, can’t tolerate loud noises, need GPS trackers because they wander away from home without fear, and will never live independently. These kids exist in far greater numbers than 20 years ago.

If you think autism “means nothing,” I’ll take you to a Miracle League baseball game any weekend in my town and show you a dozen or more kids who don’t fit your narrow idea. That’s the real face of autism. And the word autism means a lot to the parents. They are going to be care-givers for the rest of these kids lives. So please don't be so dismissive of those on the spectrum. How many of these kids did you know 30 years ago?

Both sides of the issue can be true -- an increase in the numbers and the broader definition.

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Of course there were cases in 1970 that weren’t called autism.

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I'm sure that's theoretically true, but at this point in my life I have been around enough (real) autistic kids to know what they act like, and I honestly do not remember any any kids acting that way growing up.

I remember one kid who genuinely seemed to have ADHD, but he also seemed like he was more 'effed up by the medication they put him on back then than the ADHD.

Now, I went to private school and my class size was 35-40 instead of 350-400, so that has to be taken into consideration. I played rec league sports and stuff, but then again, a kid firmly on the autism spectrum probably wasn't going out for starting first base in the Pony League.

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If you think autism “means nothing,” I’ll take you to a Miracle League baseball game any weekend in my town and show you a dozen or more kids who don’t fit your narrow idea. That’s the real face of autism

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I understand. I’m saying the numbers and totality mean nothing because the spectrum is far too wide

My dad’s cousin who is in his 70s is full blown autistic. From Port Allen Louisiana. He doesn’t talk, and watches at minimum 5 John Wayne movies every single day

Now, was he ever called autistic? No. Did he ever once step foot in a classroom in the 50s? God no. But today we work with people like him and send them to schools and everything. My great aunts choices back then were stay home and care for him or send him off somewhere

So even for the legit cases of autism are far more prevalent part of society today. Back then they would really never have tried to incorporate people like that.

Posted this in another thread but it’s more relevant to this one.

I have two kids with it. No history in our families prior to ours but now have 4-5 total in our families.

Daughter was diagnosed early (around 2) and it was pretty obvious.she’s 7 now and still non-verbal, so no functional language. Still in diapers and has extreme food issues and extreme issues with change. Little boy is 4 (5 in two months) and was deemed autistic or considered to have a significant amount of autistic characteristics (by school system). He’s not non-verbal but very limited with language. Probably language of a 2-3 year old. Has sensitivities to sound and food issues. Only early signs he showed was regression. He was starting to talk and identify body parts, etc then all of a sudden in between 14-18 months he lost those skills.

Since my kids have it, I have been around the special needs school programs at 3 different schools here. Each school is filled with 3-4+ classes (5-10% of school total) of kids like mine. Some a lot worse off than my kids, banging their heads, self harm, etc.. Growing up 30-40 years ago, it was not nearly this bad

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inflate it started about the same time Regan gave the children vaccine immunity of being sued

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You're fitting what you want to hear into your narrative.

The DSM reclassified the diagnosis and created the idea of a spectrum later than that, which exploded the category, as others have noted. There are three other factors you're not taking into account:

1) FedGov started giving more money to schools for any student that was "special needs," and the expansion of the definition created the incentive to diagnose as many kids as possible, with few barriers, to get extra dollars and aides (as I said in the similar thread in the OT 30m ago).

2) Kids raised in the 70/80s were raised by moms exposed to the women's lib/China Syndrome/Silent Spring BS, which was probably the tipping point of turning people that could afford it into anxious parents. We can't discipline Timmy, he's on the spectrum and can't be over stimulated, which is why he needs earmuffs in elementary school. Nah, you robbed your kid of developing coping skills early on with excuses. Close to 10% of my son's 5th grade class was wearing earmuffs, were disruptive, and required multiple TAs to redirect and handle them because everyone insisted on mainstreaming kids that didn't belong in mainstream classrooms.

3) iPad parenting.

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None. First time I even heard of it was Rain Man.

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"One for good. Two for bad."

Boomer...none...