Autism in US more common than previously thought; wider screening, better diagnosis cited

[AverageJoe90]

55. I'm terribly sorry, but........

One of the Blaxill articles said that autism was basically non-existent in the '30s. I'm sorry, but that kinda ruined the article for me..... The truth is, if it truly is mostly man-made, and I have long suspected that it is, then it isn't at all a new problem, as pollution, of all sorts, was actually far, far worse in the 1930s than it was when I was born(early '90s), especially in the areas where certain industries dominated. This disease may have only been recently named but it isn't something that just sprung up out of thin air, not like AIDS did. This condition has been around for as long as humans have had their food & water supplies contaminated by hazardous materials(in fact, one must wonder if the two girls from Salem responsible for the Witch Trials may have become autistic thru ergot poisoning?). Blaxill also seems to be unwilling to consider the possibility that some cases of ASD may indeed be caused by child abuse and/or neglect. Unfortunately, these days, most members of the medical establishment aren't willing to admit this, either.

An okay article overall, but there are a few things that should've have been edited out. His highly absurd, and just plain unprovable assumption that autism didn't exist in the 1930s was one of them.

And, I'm still very much sticking to the side that ASD's are indeed a problem, but have been very, very, overdiagnosed over the past couple of decades, mainly due to incompetence and fearmongering. I'm sorry, but the 1 in 88 figure is just f***ing bullshit.

You may wonder why I feel so damn strongly about this. Well, best to be honest with you and just come out already: I was misdiagnosed myself some 18 years ago. The regimen of 'special' schooling, and pills, contributed to ensure that I would have long-term underlying emotional issues to deal with on top of growing up in a somewhat screwed up family(not really too terribly bad, but still problematic enough at times). If the psychiatrists in the Dallas-area school district where I grew up attending hadn't been bungled this so badly I'd probably be better off, even if only somewhat so.