There are at least two factors that can account for the increase in the diagnosis of autism:

1) Autism is now diagnosed along a wide range of symptoms. The new way of dealing with this realization is to group several different symptoms together into one broader category called Autism Spectrum Disorder. The broader definition now includes people who also labeled with Asperger's Syndrome. Some people are highly functioning but still fit the new ASD definition while others are quite unable to function on their own.

2) Whenever there is more focus on a particular problem or issue many more incidents of that issue will become categorized. For instance, with better and more consistent monitoring of water quality, some beaches are now more often listed as having bad water quality. But many people thing that the situation has not become worse, only that we are noticing it more. It's like when you buy a new car and then you start to notice how many other people also drive that same car. With a better understanding of ASD scientists are noticing more cases of it, and people who would not have been diagnosed are now getting a (hopefully proper) diagnosis.
Permalink | Report

Scientists are also finding that there is the ""Silicon Valley"" connection of Autism where the genetics that cause Autism are becoming dominant due to the Internet.
Now that the computer helps people with similar genetic make up meet from all over the country and even the world. these with the same recessive genetic makeup are meeting and marrying and having children

All of the above mentioned conditions are irregularities formed in the same part of the genetic foundation so they appear as Autism and Asperger's Syndrome and Intense Anxiety disorders, Attention Deficit disorder and ADHD.
The research is new but really fascinating.
Source(s):
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020506/scautism.html

Permalink | Report

Well I'm autistic but it's not really noticable, heck I understand 'normal' people better than autistic ones, but yeah autistic people are growing, some are even autistic without knowing it
Permalink | Report

It's very probably this will happen. New studies are showing a good link between Vitamin D deficiency and Austism.
I have read a lot on the subject of Autism due to my ex-wife's son having it.
There was a recent podcast by Steve Gibson on Leo Laporte's "Security Now" show which touched on this fact.
From the "Autism Today" website:
--- quote ---
... a U.S. researcher is advancing a controversial hypothesis: that autism is related to vitamin D deficiency during fetal development and early childhood.
Dr. John Cannell, a psychiatrist and prominent vitamin D advocate, says flagging levels of the vitamin in pregnant women and young children could be the elusive factor explaining the rising rate of autism.

The evidence for such a link is circumstantial, and autism experts describe the hypothesis as speculative. But Dr. Cannell, founder of the Vitamin D Council, a non-profit advocacy group, says autism rates have skyrocketed in lockstep with medical advice given to the public since the late 1980s to avoid all exposure to bright sunshine.
--- /quote ---
It's a known fact these days that people are woefully deficient in Vitamin D levels and this appears to be a result.
Source(s):
http://www.autismtoday.com/articles/Researcher%20sees%20link.asp
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/apr2009_The-Link-Between-Autism-and-Low...
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/autism/

Permalink | Report