What is causing the rise in diagonses of autism?

Since vaccines causing autism has had yet another nail added to its coffin (saddens me that anyone believed that), I have to ask, what is causing the rise in autism diagnosis rates?

I've heard theories ranging from shifiting definitions to greater awareness to rain (I seriously wish I was kidding about that last one), so what causes do we think could be making the rates go up, ultimately?

Probably greater awareness/testing/etc.

Perhaps it's simply the fact that diagnosis methods are getting better.

More diagnoses doesn't necessarily mean that there are more cases, just that we're finding more cases.

Lack of natural selection? I don't really know.

Watch as the joke gets played on us and Mother Nature has made everyone autistic and it's just that some people are more autistic than others.

It's called a spectrum for a reason

"The increase is largely a consequence of improved ascertainment and a considerable broadening of the diagnostic concept."

A lot of people on the spectrum would just have been dismissed as "weird" in the past, but there's a culture developing where every idiosyncratic has to have a medical/psychological cause, so more and more "weird" people are getting checked out for autism/asperger's/manic-depression/what have you.

Greater Understanding.

Misdiagnosis.

It's been a "trend" in psychology for several years now. Many people formerly diagnosed with something else are even being re-diagnosed with this. And many times probably highly improperly. Under the right watchglass, almost anyone slightly "weird" might be diagnosed. Maybe me, maybe you. Maybe all of family and friends. It's ridiculously easy to get a diagnosis.

I'm not into a lot of mainstream things. That could come off to people as "narrow obsessive interests". Even though I consider myself a very varied person. I go and listen to music nobody has heard of or cares about instead of watching a big Football game, for instance. Furthermore, despite the fact I have a huge amount of empathy for other humans, I also have a bit of alienation and misanthropy, someone would probably think that's autistic. And lord knows I can be clumsy sometimes. Some people have even described me as Pedantic!

See? It's a misdiagnosis waiting to happen! Well, not really. But you get the picture.

It's not that easy to get a diagnosis. I think it requires observation by a trained psychologist.

edited 8th Jan '11 6:22:13 AM by storyyeller

It's misdiagnosis.

Misdiagnosis is probably the best answer.

Back when I lived in America, in 5th grade, I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, but it wasn't until four years later that I realized it was a big misdiagnosis. Really, Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) sounds a lot more like me, but really, I'm beginning to think I never had any autistic symptoms. After all, the only reason my mental health was even examined in the first place was because I was stressing out like mad at school, and a social worker checked my family out and couldn't figure anything out (which I'm starting to realize was because we were told to lie o_o).

So what the officials say is autism of some sort could be another problem altogether. It all depends on not just the context of the mental peculiarities, but the context of the whole examination, as well.

Political correctness has judged that weird people aren't weird, they're just psychologically maladjusted by a variety of forces far beyond anyone's control or comprehension.

Vaccinations! It's vaccinations, I tell you!

My mother still believes that, no matter what I tell her.

Show this [1] to your mother.

edited 8th Jan '11 11:18:06 PM by LilPaladinSuzy

Because we're increasing the number of things defined as autism. Asperger's Syndrome used to be something different, but now it's a subtype of autism.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=12944653990A63957100&page=1#11

Part of the increase comes from the opposite of what happened to you - people with PDD-NOS being re-diagnosed with autism/AS.

EDIT: Misread your post. Still, the point remains.

edited 9th Jan '11 12:01:47 AM by Redhead

Awareness/testing

Mine took 20 years >_> But I'd go with greater awareness/testing......

Greater awareness, an increase in what's classified as autism and misdiagnoses.

Oh, and vaccines.