The Increase in Autism Diagnosis Rates is a Good Thing
Being autistic is not a bad thing. And yes, I will die on this hill.
Another day, another person bemoaning the exponential rise in autism diagnosis over the past few decades.
“Why are there so many autistic children these days? I never heard of such a thing when I was young!”
“The kids are so unhealthy now; they’ve all got some diagnosis or other, autism, ADHD, and the like.”
“They keep pumping the children with drugs and vaccines and the autism rate shoots up but nobody’s allowed to talk about it!”
“There’s so many of these young people on TikTok saying they’re autistic, you see, it’s all just a trend. They’re nothing like my nephew with autism.”
“Anyone who has any sort of mental health issue gets diagnosed with autism these days. It’s intentional overdiagnosis designed to line the pockets of Big Pharma.”1
Perhaps you have heard statements like these or even said similar things yourself. With autism diagnosis rates on the rise and a push for more autistic representation in media, it is no wonder that people have questions and concerns about this topic. All kinds of theories attempting to explain this have been proposed from vaccines to artificial preservatives in food to technological devices to overdiagnosis and even a denial of the disorder’s existence. There is just one major flaw with all this speculation — it completely ignores the reality of undiagnosed autistic people.
Given the grand scope of human history, the recognition of autism as a condition is very recent. The term itself was only coined in 1910 by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler to refer to self-absorbed individuals who did not care to interact much with the world.2 Autism as we know it today was first described by Grunya Sukhareva, a child psychiatrist in the Soviet Union, who termed it schizoid psychopathies in childhood. Later influential figures in autism research include Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner though many of their theories and methods have been discredited. In 1938, Donald Triplett became the first person to be diagnosed as autistic and died just last year.
Throughout its history, autism has been referred to by a number of different names such as dementia praecox (premature dementia), schizophrenia, pervasive developmental disorder, autistic disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, and finally, autism spectrum disorder. The criteria and definitions of these terms have shifted over time as new insights were gleaned from research and will surely continue to advance as more is discovered in the coming decades. So, here is my question to those complaining about increasing autism rates. Do you really think that autistic people did not exist before the twentieth century? Sure, the word is anachronistic, but people exhibiting symptoms of autism that fit the diagnostic criteria have been around for much longer.
There are several articles and videos one can find online that point to autistic traits in historical people before the concept of autism was well-known or even conceived of. Famous people speculated to possibly have been autistic include Albert Einstein, Ludwig van Beethoven, Emily Brontë, Isaac Newton, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Nikola Tesla, Michelangelo, Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll, Benjamin Banneker, Charles Darwin, Henry Cavendish, and Hans Christian Anderson. Obviously, whether or not these people really were autistic cannot be determined with any certainty but it seems likely.
A major reason why autism rates have grown significantly over the past decade has to do with the gender gap. Historically, autism research has mainly been focused on autistic males which has led to many more autistic women than men going undiagnosed. As such, primarily male autistic traits have become the stereotype. A 2022 study has determined that a whopping eighty percent of autistic females are undiagnosed at the age of 18.3 As such, women finding out they are autistic as adults is becoming more and more common.
There are a variety of factors that contribute to this, but most notably, autistic women and girls are generally better at hiding their autistic traits and pretending to be neurotypical than autistic men and boys. Sure, people notice our differences and abnormal behaviours, but dismissing these things as “shyness” or saying “you’ll grow out of it” is incredibly common. Additionally, autistic children with above-average intelligence are more likely to go undiagnosed than those with a low IQ. Because of the way that most schools operate, students who attain high marks are not seen as a cause for concern unless they are overly disruptive, while those who struggle academically are easily spotted by teachers who can recommend that the child get tested for various conditions and/or disorders that may be at play.
This is why the internet has been instrumental in spreading awareness of autism, as it allows autistic people themselves to communicate information regarding their experiences of being autistic to a wide audience. Thousands of people like myself, who always felt like they were different and did not belong anywhere, have been finding out that they are autistic or otherwise neurodivergent thanks to the advancement of research in this area.
I believe most of those who whine about rising autism rates do not possess an adequate understanding of the situation. Autism is not something that can be identified just by looking at someone; it can go unnoticed for decades. And for those who say things like, “wElL yOu’Re NoT a ReAl AuTiStIc PeRsOn BeCaUsE rEaSoNs,” I have news for you. Autistic people can vary significantly in our interests, abilities, intelligence, and level of independence. A heavily masked autistic person with relatively low support needs is still an autistic person.
Feel free to disagree with me, but I strongly believe that autistic people have been around for as long as humans have. We have always been here, hiding in plain sight. Some autistic people masked to blend in as much as they could. Others were put in asylums or seen as freakish anomalies. A select few became accomplished writers, scientists, or something else who used their intense interests and different points of view to make discoveries and impact people of the future. Sadly, there are undoubtedly some who chose to end their lives due to feeling misunderstood and not fitting in.
All of this brings me to the central point (and title) of this post: the increase in autism diagnosis rates is a good thing. Ideally, every autistic person should get diagnosed in childhood, though that unfortunately does not happen. An autism diagnosis is not something to mourn over, and if someone you know tells you they received one, just about the worst thing you can say is “I’m sorry” or “that’s unfortunate.” Finding out that one is autistic, especially later in life, often brings a sense of relief and can even be a cause for celebration.
God made all kinds of people of varying heights, skin colours, and many other characteristics, some of whom happen to be autistic. And to see disability as a wholly negative thing that should always be cured and/or prevented is flawed and outdated thinking, as neurodiversity is not only natural but beneficial. Autistic people can make valuable contributions to their communities and the world not in spite of, but because of who they were designed to be. Even if autism itself and not just the rate of diagnosis was increasing, why is that such a scary thing? Instead of spreading misinformation and fear-based rhetoric, maybe take a few minutes to contemplate what it is like to be autistic and see all these things that get posted online. I, for one, am glad to be who God made me, autism and all.
None of these are actual quotes. I wrote them myself to illustrate the sorts of things one might hear about rising autism rates.
McCrossin R. Finding the True Number of Females with Autistic Spectrum Disorder by Estimating the Biases in Initial Recognition and Clinical Diagnosis. Children (Basel). 2022 Feb 17;9(2):272. doi: 10.3390/children9020272. PMID: 35204992; PMCID: PMC8870038.
I'm glad God made you just the way he did 💕
I agree that autism has been around for longer than the official diagnosis. We keep learning more about how the brain functions and that reveals more traits that we can then name. But my question is - is there really a neurotypical brain? Maybe all these things they are calling disorders or syndromes are just different ways that people are made and none are good or bad. Just something I've been wondering about. All people are worthy of respect and I think it is good when we can understand them better. Thank you for this interesting article!