Expert: Trey McGowan - 1/18/2009

Question
What are some of the causes due to the sudden rise in Autism rates per birth
over the past few year?

Answer
Hi there, Tucker!

The biggest answer to your question is actually the answer to a different question: you ask, 'What are the causes of the rates per birth?'. The correct answer, however, is: 'What are the causes of the increase in autism cases?'. Doesn't seem like a big change in the question, really, until you consider the major situation as it seems to be.

The increase in the past years is not that more and more children are being *born* autistic. Rather, the increase in the past years is that more and more children are being *diagnosed* autistic. In the 1970s, the word 'autism' as we know it today did not exist. Indeed, even in the 1980s, high-functioning autism was often diagnosed as anything from ADD to hyperactivity (remember that the two were not 'fused' for a long time) to even just childhood acting out. However, more and more patterns were beginning to be established, and by the late 80s and early 90s, autism in its multitude of varieties was being firmly established in the psychiatric books, rather than primarily buried in the back.

When Asperger came up with his diagnosis of an 'autism-like' syndrome, separate and yet related to high-functioning autism, the waters were muddied/filled that little bit more. Indeed, Asperger's Syndrome has been around for quite some time, but only fairly recently (in the last 15 years) has it been even translated into English, and the diagnosis spread out from there, fit in with other developmental disorders.

The birth rate of autism has no doubt been much higher thna diagnoses in the past has shown. Many adults who have been diagnosed with ASDs would be able to tell you this fairly clearly. However, it is only in the recent years that childhood testing has become more prevalent. Add into that a good many children who are self-diagnosed, misdiagnosed, or simply given a diagnosis as 'the closest possible description', and you end up with what could often be called an 'epidemic', and the steady rise that people are seeing.

So I hope I was able to answer your question here! As usual, any further questions, comments, feedback, follow-ups, or whatever are more than welcome!

Trey