Where Are All The Autistic Adults?

Question

If and the medical community is telling us we just have "better diagnosis", and ONE in FIVE children now has some form of autism spectrum disorder, don't you think we would notice if one in five people all around us in any given day had autism?
Don't you think if they were misdiagnosed, doctors could see clearly all the misdiagnosed autistics all around us, taking up a huge chunk of our population, why aren't they all coming out with their rediagnosis of the staggering populations of adults with autism now that they know so much about it?
And is autism a human condition all over the world that a huge percentage of the population just 'has' with no rhyme or reason?

the autism rates aren't rising, we take that back, they aren't rising, it is just your imagination, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Answer 1

That's a loaded question, and I hope I can give you a good answer. My son is autistic, so I am on A LOT of sites geared toward autism, including chat sites, message boards, and groups. There ARE a lot of adults with autism, but probably not as many as we would suspect, given the amount of kids that are being diagnosed. Some of that is, like others on here have said, years ago the only ones that received a dx of autism were severe, classicly autistic. The idea that kids could have autism, but milder forms, wasn't there yet, so they were misdiagnosed with things like mental retardation or schizophrenia, sorry for the misspelling! Now, we know that there are different degrees, so the diagnosing is better, but appears that it is more. The second reason is we are dealing with much more environmental issues then they were years ago. The amount of immunizations that we pump into our kids is staggering, and it's not just the thimerasol that's damaging, there are antibiotics and preservatives in those things, like formaldehyde to name one. Also, the chemicals we have in our homes like cleaners, personal care products, all contain harmful ingredients that have been proven to affect all parts of the body but especially the central nervous system, and that damages our bodies in many different ways. Autism is, essentially, brain damage, so it's no wonder, with just mentioning these two forms of environmental changes now, as compared to 20-30 years ago, will cause the rates of autism to rise. I mean, there are new cleaners and products being put on the market every day, so when you look back 20-30 years ago, there weren't as many choices, or chemicals. We'd be naive if we said that didn't have an impact, not only on autism but ADD, ADHD, things like chronic fatigue, the list goes on and on. As to the dr.'s seeing clearly the misdiagnosed people, for one, most people with autism have social issues, so chances are they're not running to the dr. for every little hangnail like most of society does these days, so the dr.'s probably aren't seeing too much of them. My husband is like that, and he's not autistic. Also, for someone who isn't as severely affected by autism but is more on the mild end of things, it's harder to diagnose as adults because they have learned to adjust to their problems as they have gone through life, becuase there was nobody to tell them they couldn't do things, so they compensate. So, there are many different factors going on here, there isn't just one answer. I hope this helps!

Answer 2

You are contradicting yourself if the first line of the question. The reason it appears that there has been a rise in Autism diagnoses is because we are more aware of the symptoms now than 10-20 years ago. It's not that all of a sudden there are more autistic people it's just we know what it is now. Another thing is that autism is what is called a spectrum disorder. That means the severity of the disorder differs from person to person. Some people are very profoundly autistic and some are very functional. So as far as the one in five thing goes that covers all people who are autistic from those who graduate college to those who barely make it through high school. As far as where are they all now. Have you ever been to a state run mental hospital?? If someone was profoundly autistic in 1960 they were put in a psych facility somewhere to live out there lives. Many were considered MR (mentally retarded) and placed in group homes. So there are a lot of people out there institutionalized that are misdiagnosed.

Answer 3

I know more than one adult that was said to have some level of autism as a child.

The best example I can give you is a friend of mine who is now in his 40's. He has been diagnosed with a variety of different conditions including ADHD, OCD and autism. He does have some problems that are mostly noticed by his close friends, family members and people in his every day life. Otherwise they are not that noticeable. He is able to function on his own etc.
I also have a friend whose cousin is a 20 something year old autistic adult who remains in her parents care at all times. She can by no means function on her own.

Just because you do not see them everywhere does not mean they are not there.

Let me also add that depending on the level of autism that a person may have they can also go from being completely dependant to mostly or even completely independant. I work with children and about eight years ago I had a child in my care who was three and was high level autistic. He could walk but was in "his own world" at all times when I first met them and started working with his family. After almost a year although he still had a long way to go he was doing better and even starting to talk at times.

Answer 4

Actually autism is now diagnosed more than ever before... but in the past people with autism did exist but were given different diagnoses. Many people with autism were assumed to be "mentally retarded" or even schizophrenic. Also, some people with milder autism were just thought to be individuals who were a little weird. If you think back, you probably have childhood memories of at least one adult or child who acted autistic, but whom everyone just thought of as a little odd.
PLUS when they first started diagnosing autism, it was thought to be caused by the mothers. Doctors believed that certain mothers subconsciously rejected their children, and the children were so brokenhearted that they just retreated from the world. So I would think that, if a mother suspected her child was autistic back then, she might not run out to get him diagnosed, because she would know that she would be blamed and her child would be institutionalized "for his own good" to keep him away from her.
Many adults ARE now getting rediagnosed as autistic... especially those high-functioning enough to go out and seek their own diagnosis. However there are also many without families, who live in group homes or institutions, and possibly nobody has thought to or bothered to reevaluate their diagnosis.

Answer 5

Autism may be temporary. My friend had autism when he was young. He would write things backwards all the time. Now he's an adult at 27 and there's no sign of autism.

Answer 6

I go to church with a grown man who has autism.. he has a bad case, he doesn't talk really, he comes up and shakes every ones had and won't touch it he will just hold his hand out and when you go to shake his hand he pulls it back and he knows everyone in the Church's address, phone #, and license plate # by heart... He's great.. but it does exist in a lot of adults.. maybe not around you.. but it's there..

Answer 7

It's not 1 in 5, it's 1 in 165 according to the Center for Disease Control.

Answer 8

At Caesar's Palace.

Answer 9

Hmm, you got a point there.

Answer 10

girl shut the hell up and stop being stupid.