Autism

[The Critic]

Lately, I have noticed more kids (3-6 yr old) being diagnosed with moderate to severe autism. In fact, there are two cases within my immediate group of neighbors and a few more examples within my group of friends. These are cases that are severe and will probably require lifelong support services.

I am not trying to start a debate, but am genuinely curious if there is a reason for the national uptick in diagnoses. Are there environmental factors that can be causing this, or is the medical industry doing a better job of identifying the social behaviors early on?

 

[OilReport99]

I am not trying to start a debate, but am genuinely curious if there is a reason for the national uptick in diagnoses.

That's a can of worms. Keep it closed.

 

[PWMDMD]

No one knows. Probably multifactorial meaning genetics with environmental components during fetal development. The estimate in 2000 was 1 in 2500 (probably not too accurate) and in 2008 it was 1 in 150 and now it's 1 in 54. Some of it is better diagnosis but that can be accounted for in the statistics and it does not represent the major reason for the increase. I treat children and see this every day...

 

[earlyre]

Are there environmental factors that can be causing this, or is the medical industry doing a better job of identifying the social behaviors early on?

6 of the one, half dozen of the other....

 

[xgmad]

This maybe controversial but there are studies shown that pesticides can cause autism , in mexico alot of female workers who work in insecticide spewed places , alot of them somehow have kids with autism.
including advanced age in either parent, diabetes, bleeding, and use of psychiatric drugs in the mother during pregnancy. (Arndt TL, Stodgell CJ, Rodier PM. The teratology of autism. Int J Dev Neurosci. 2005;23(2–3):189–99)

 

[IndyIan]

Just having kids later in life is a risk factor, and I believe I read somewhere that our exposure to more and more chemicals in our environment is causing genetic damage that is passed down to offspring.

 

[Rmay635703]

Lately, I have noticed more kids (3-6 yr old) being diagnosed with moderate to severe autism. In fact, there are two cases within my immediate group of neighbors and a few more examples within my group of friends. These are cases that are severe and will probably require lifelong support services.

I am not trying to start a debate, but am genuinely curious if there is a reason for the national uptick in diagnoses. Are there environmental factors that can be causing this, or is the medical industry doing a better job of identifying the social behaviors early on?

My friends father was exposed to agent orange during Vietnam and he has epilepsy and is likely on the spectrum

many of his defects are associated with exposure to agent oran

The reality is we have been running an uncontrolled genetic experiment since the 1900’s as our government doesn’t require any testing for many common household compounds and there are literally tens of thousands of substances that have gotten banned since 1950 after disease or birth defects were found in association
Many formerly gras red dyes and certain plastics are illegal, many drugs have gotten banned.

Our fertility has been falling since 1980, even so called healthy alkaline water has been found to pull the solvents out of plastic bottles causing near immediate liver failure, yet “normal” water pulls these same solvents out at lower levels and is considered safe, the levels of pphas have gone up over 1000x since 1980 and are known to cause genetic deformities

our “success” will likely lead to an eventual population collapse due to genetic damage.

 

[Leo99]

Probably multiple causes. Genetic disposition plus a trigger like a chemical or pesticide.

 

[supton]

From what I understand, it can exist on a spectrum. Severe to mild. So I wonder if some of the uptick is from including those who would never have been diagnosed in prior years. My son tests on the spectrum, but he can and will hold a conversation. It just takes dynamite sometimes. I'm not sure but if I was a fly on the wall at his school, I could easily see how most would just read him as socially awkward.

No idea as to cause. Maybe it's related to lower infant mortality: those who have issues (of all sorts and kinds) live longer. Allergies, disorders, etc. Or just that these persons are less likely to be hidden away. Toss in some environmental triggers and increase in testing of all sorts also.

 

[ironman_gq]

It's a spectrum disorder and over the years the criteria for falling on the spectrum has changed drastically as we understand more about it. They have no clue what the causes are but more people meet the broadened criteria. The spectrum varies from very mild (un-noticeable to many other than some slight awkwardness) to very severe which is unable to function without assistance.

 

[Leo99]

From what I understand, it can exist on a spectrum. Severe to mild. So I wonder if some of the uptick is from including those who would never have been diagnosed in prior years. My son tests on the spectrum, but he can and will hold a conversation. It just takes dynamite sometimes. I'm not sure but if I was a fly on the wall at his school, I could easily see how most would just read him as socially awkward.

No idea as to cause. Maybe it's related to lower infant mortality: those who have issues (of all sorts and kinds) live longer. Allergies, disorders, etc. Or just that these persons are less likely to be hidden away. Toss in some environmental triggers and increase in testing of all sorts also.

I guess there is a certain point with the milder appearance where there is overlap of personality with Autism spectrum.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Haven't read all of the replies; please excuse any redundancies.

My wife teaches special needs kids, many of whom are diagnosed autistic. She would be much more qualified to speak to this matter than I, but she isn't a member here. ;^)

My understanding is that autism is a very broadly defined affliction. Many are diagnosed with it and are later found to have something more specific or something different. But she tells me that the increase in diagnoses is largely to avail treatment and support options to the individual being diagnosed and their family.

Edit: I see now that several responses have brought up the issue of the variety of chemicals that permeate pretty much every corner of our everyday lives. You should all consider yourselves very, very fortunate that my wife is not a member here, else the next several pages of this thread would be lost to her havin' a goin'-off about chemicals and gut bacteria/ diet as they relate to brain function.

 

[Number_35]

It's a very complex issue. As has been discussed:

- Is the incidence higher now than, say, two or three generations ago, or is diagnosis better?

- Is there an environmental cause (or causes)?

- Is there a genetic predisposition?

- Is it like a series circuit where there's both a genetic predisposition and something in the environment, where both have to be present to "complete the circuit"?

There was an interesting article in Wired magazine some years ago, in which, in a nutshell, it was postulated that back centuries and centuries ago, people on the autism spectrum tended to become monks and scribes and so on, and work in cloistered quarters hand-lettering books of scripture. Their genes tended not to get passed along.

Per the same article, their modern-day equivalents now write code. Plus, women are now well-represented in this cohort. The coders meet, marry, and give birth to autistic children. Per the Wired article, it is simply normal for Silicon Valley employers to advertise "top autism treatment for your children", as though it's to be expected.

Scott Alexander wrote some fascinating stuff about autism on his late, great blog "Slate Star Codex". The posts are archived, and still available. There's some good reading there. His new blog, "Astral Codex Ten", is also very interesting.

It's important to understand that autistic behaviour is on a spectrum - it's not a binary thing, whereby one either "has" autism or doesn't.

There is a range of behaviour that society generally considers normal, and which likely varies from society to society, and within groups within societies. It's my impression that a significant percentage of gamers (that is, online video-game players, and role-playing-gamers [e.g. Dungeons & Dragons players]) likely exhibit mild autistic behaviour, which is considered completely normal for that subset of the general population.

Some (and I say some, and I think they're wrong) think it would be very weird for old mechanical nerds to obsess over oil-change intervals, HTHS numbers, filtration efficiency, and so on. But we know we're normal!

 

[Rmay635703]

There is absolutely no question the number of kids with severe issues is much higher than say compared to 1950

stillbirths are at record levels in both areas with and completely without any form of medical presence.

Stillbirth rate rises dramatically during pandemic

Researchers stress need for antenatal care, as emerging data link disrupted pregnancy services to increase in stillbirths.

www.nature.com

to think doctors of old had limited ability to identify abnormalities is foolhardy at best.

If you want to argue they identified conditions differently , that is true.

But the overall number of abnormalities and premature births has skyrocketed

People who were considered “retarded” before 1980 usually had much more minor impairment than those denoted impaired today.

Is this just due to chemicals? - nope
Is this just due to the average age of first birth moving up 10+ years, nope
Is just due to unhealthy out of shape people with random diseases giving birth? Nope

But the combination of these factors is creating a perfect storm,
the likelyhood of birth defects in women above age 30 skyrockets for every year.

The fact we are limping along is only due to extreme levels of medical intervention to ensure births, this policy is a double edged sword since many children born under such circumstances have severe issues that they in turn will pass on.

We are in a downward spiral

Experts sound the alarm on declining birth rates among younger generations: "It's a crisis"

While the global population is still growing, a major study from 2020 predicts it will peak in 2064 and then fall by nearly a billion people by the end of the century.

www.google.com

 

[Al]

In the 50's there were kids referred to "dumb kids" There were always 3 reading groups, cardinals, robins and bluejays. smart kids, average and dumb kids.

Today you can't call low intelligence kids dumb. Obviously not the whole story bc many autistic kids are smart...just as "back in the day"...some dumb kids were really not "dumb" . And pesticides....in the 40's and 50's they sprayed the beaches with DDT.

I'll stop there.

 

[Jackson_Slugger]

There is absolutely no question the number of kids with severe issues is much higher than say compared to 1950

...

I would take serious issue with that statement, the "issues" were simply hidden and repressed. If there were less issues in the 50's, the why was the murder rate in the early 1970's much higher than today? The murder rate in 1990 was nearly double of what it is today....

Things were simply hidden, things like child abuse and throwing kids away into sanitariums...

The rise is autism diagnosis is simply better diagnosis and probably worse diagnosis in terms of mischaracterization...

 

[JHZR2]

Very complex topic. Chemicals, vaccines, time allowed before cutting umbilical cord, and a wide variety of other things have gotten blame, but it’s not really clear that there is a smoking gun.

What is true however, is that parents will move to where they think their kids will get the best support and best services. The district my wife works in, very affluent town, has a disproportionate level of kids on the spectrum and a wide range of other needs. Because it’s a very good district known for good services and support, it probably has a draw all its own.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I asked a recently retired grade school teacher a similar question. She said she believed the kids were not diagnosed back then. They were considered slow.

 

[PandaBear]

I wouldn't say it is more common today and non existence back then. I have seen a lot of them in the 80s as well when I grew up. Back then they work jobs that would not require them to be seen and exposed (i.e. back of the kitchen), so they can still partially support themselves, and they may not go to school and instead live with their parents.

In the old days we have situations like meningitis who could cause brand damage (my wife's uncle), we have situations when kids fell and hit their heads and turn them into brain damages, we group them together with autism and we just never think much about it, because infant mortality is high.

Today we have late marriage, late child birth, more women drinking and doing recreational drugs (I'm not saying we should keep them in the kitchen and keep them conservatives, but this is how things are today as men and women are more equal than before), we take more pills for situations instead of just resting a day or two. We also have more chemicals in our environment, food, radiations (x ray scan, wireless signal cooking your sperms and eggs, etc), more obesity in parents, etc.

I also suspects that back in the days many children were abandoned when they were showing signs of birth defects, autism, etc. They may be sent to orphanage and then "disappear" or they may end up as "gotten sick and die" whether they were accidental or intentional. What didn't protect naughty child back in the days likely kill way more autistic kids. We have way better child proofing today than before.

Just look at all the IVF people need today, I would imagine it would correlate to the number of autism we see in our population. Also look at various kind of allergies like peanuts, shell fish, etc that are more common today. Maybe one day we will find some way to "treat" or "screen" for them during early pregnancy, like many of the screening provided for free to mother today.

Many people in the past were marrying their cousins, I don't think this is encouraged today. Also according to my parents story telling, many autistic people were married to handicapped people who couldn't find a spouse, or abused and "sent away" in a marriage to cover up the incidents.

 

[M56959]

Had to remove 7 posts.