bighairymike: Another big thank you for launching an investigation into the explosive growth of autism in our population

There is no "explosive growth of autism in our population." Kennedy is using data from the 1960s when scientists found rates of autism as low as 4.7 in every 10,000 kids and comparing it to 2022 when the CDC showed the rate of autism in kids under 8 was 1 in 31 without mentioning that, in the 1960s, autism was characterized by “profound impairments,” and today that definition is no longer used. The definition of autism has changed several times since the 1960s and now includes kids with Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD.

Shorter version: today autism spectrum disorder is defined to include a wide range of conditions that were excluded or unrecognized in the 1960s. And the more you look for those, the more of them you find.

Many children on the spectrum live perfectly normal lives today and grow up to be perfectly normal adults. Those identified as "autistic" in the 1960s, not so much.


https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/rfk-autism-c...

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