autism- if the increase is from diagnosis, should adult diagnosis be through the roof?

[je]

I just read an article that said that the nearly 600% increase in autism since 1991 is probably largely due to awareness. So how many adults are being diagnosed as falling into the autism spectrum? Wouldn't that be going up at nearly the same rate? And does anyone know exactly when the autism spike started?

 

[Quietscherin]

The explanation for the fact that adults might not be diagnosed as high as children now is because people who have suffered their whole lives are probably already falsely diagnosed with something else and being treated for this or don't have the courage to go be diagnosed. Children are easily diagnosed because parents realize something is "wrong". They aren't doing as well in school, they can't socialize or with extreme autism it even looks like mental retardation. Adults who may have extreme autism are probably already in long term care and unfortunately not many doctors are interested in nursing homes.

 

[Heidi]

The real problem with autism, and this is the real problem: the many numerous children who can not do regular education classes. Many can not even do special needs classes without at least psych meds to keep them under control. Anyone over 40 with a good memory knows we did not have children in our schools who could not do regular education classes, except for a few that were mental retarded who made many efforts to socialize, which would not put them in the category of autism, and then there were the few that went for extra help in reading and math. That was it. There were NO, as in absolutely NO children who were hyperactive. Thus, it doesn't matter what they argue about, I have my memory. I moved every year, living in several different states. We did not have children with hyperactivity and odd behaviors. There were some odd people in the neighborhood, but they were mostly not behaving due to parental neglect. The numerous psych symptoms seen today were extremely rare then. The first Asperger's types to be noticed were what we called computer geeks, and these types did not exist until computers started being used in all the offices. There are some that claim that electrosmog is very related to autism. Thus, this is likely a significant contributing factor. Basically, the many numerous developmental and mental illnesses seen today are just not what we use to see. I can say that most cases are not due to better diagnosing because of the high amount of children today who can not do regular school. And believe me, in my childhood, whispering in class was enough to get you sent to the principal's office, because kids behaved. So, just ask anyone over 40 to learn that it's not due to better diagnosing. They will tell you that ADHD, autism and such just weren't around.

 

[Sunny]

Good thinking. Here are some more facts to add to the mix.The prognosis for 93% of people with this "incurable" disorder is either institutional care or group homes--so where are all these warehoused adults? And at 1 in 91 people afflicted, you must have a couple autistic people in your family, or certainly in your social circle, right? Nope, me neither. Not until my son was hit by autism, no one in my husband's family OR mine (for 5 generations back) had had anything even close to "autism".Also, did you know that there is no such thing as a genetic epidemic? At and 1 in 91 Americans, this is certainly an epidemic. Polio, at it's height was 1 in 4,000. Nope, epidemics ALWAYS are from environmental causes.Did you also know that in 1982 (when autism was 1 in 10,000) children only received 8 vaccines? Now they get 36! And that doesn't even include the mercury filled flu and H1N1 vaxes! Children in this country are being poisoned by too many vaccines filled with bacteria, viruses, and heavy metals--severely damaging their immune, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems. All so Big Pharma can make more $$$.Take a look at this chart, there is no "mystery" in autism:http://www.helpyourautisticchild.com/chartCapitalism on steroids.

 

[Ron W]

Hi Je, This is a very good question and it is the first time that I have seen it asked. I have autism and I am an adult of 52 years. I first learned that I have autism by reading books written by authors who have autism and recognizing that my behaviors and thinking patterns matched theirs. This increase of diagnoses in children, since the 1990's, comes from a better recognition by physicians nationwide of the behaviors in children which are typical of an autistic child. Parents are understandably baffled when their child does not socialize well or when he lashes out against a playmate (seemingly) without provocation. Parents are better educated now, as well, and they bring in a child for evaluation rather than reprimanding and spanking the child. Diagnosing adults, however, can be a different story. An adult who has graduated high school and/or college has developed quite significantly from their childhood self. This means that if a physician or therapist is tasked with diagnosing an adult, they must be familiar with how an adult can mask the symptoms of autism. Adults have a much greater reservoir of coping skills than a child. This means that the therapist has a more difficult time of discerning an accurate diagnosis. About that increase in adult diagnosis? It's not likely to appear. Unless an adult is accompanying a child who is brought in for diagnosis, the adult is not usually diagnosed on their own accord. A friend with autism lived all her life with this, graduated college with a PhD, and taught for several years before she was diagnosed. It was only when she insisted that the college provide a comprehensive evaluation for her that it was revealed to be autism. When did the autism spike start? In the mid 1960's it was typical to hear that 1 in 10,000 children have autism. My guess is that in the late 1980's to 1990's that diagnosis methods became more refined and standardized. This led to more diagnoses of autism, but also some children are diagnosed with autism by psychiatrists or therapists so that they can be included in a funded school program. Unless a special needs child has a diagnosis for which their school curriculum provides funding, that child will likely not receive the sort of support needed in order to develop to the best of their ability.