Is There An Autism ‘Epidemic’? There are reasons for the apparent and falsely mislead autism ‘epidemic’ that is upon us so let me explain. Whether it is misdiagnosis, heightened awareness, or changes in the way ASD is diagnosed it all plays its part.
Misdiagnosis is a huge factor contributing to the increased numbers of ASD! Misdiagnosis happens because of:
1 – The recommendations to complete diagnostic assessments in a range of environments and contexts go amiss. It is unfair to use assessment in just one setting as a child will behave differently in an unknown environment when compared to a known one.
2 – The increasing need for diagnosis means inexperienced people are diagnosing individuals with ASD and in other instances not utilizing ASD assessment protocol. There needs to be an overhaul of the diagnostic process whereby the correct professionals are using the same protocol to diagnose autism in individuals.
3 – Well-intentioned specialists diagnose a child with ASD although the child does not precisely meet criteria but ‘necessitates’ the diagnosis to access support services. Well intentioned – yes but when an individual that does not specifically meet the criteria is diagnosed for the sake of accessing support that not only skews the statistics, but also takes away from other individuals that do meet the criteria for diagnosis and require the assistance for more than others. The lack of funding and support services make it a difficult task for a family.
4 – The relaxed standards and new diagnosis for meeting criteria of ASD since the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-V) to a range of familiar behaviours. There are so many ‘behaviours’ that people who are quick to judge suggest are traits of autism instead of assessing appropriately and getting to the root cause of behaviour which may not have anything to do with autism to begin with.
5 – The poor diagnostic standards make it easy to. What more can I say about this?? Sad but true!
The addition of Asperger’s syndrome, PDD-NOS, and Autistic disorder from the DSM- IV have now been classified in the DSM – V under one classification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
AND let’s not forget the heightened awareness that society has globally but don’t have the capacity to include individuals.
The 2 best echolalia strategies to use when communicating with your child living
with autism spectrum disorder. >> COMPLIMENTARY VIDEO >>
Having cleared up why there seems to be a plethora of individuals being diagnosed with ASD, here is a brief history to explain how ASD as we know it today has been documented for over a century.
In 1853 Herman Melville published a short story called Bartleby. It depicts a strange character of his time, displaying social deficits such as no eye contact, and a blank face. Bartleby also presents with impairments in communication shown by inadequate speech, along with challenges in starting and continuing a conversation. Bartleby also has a fixation with one or more stereotyped and restricted interests, atypical in both amounts and focus.
I find it too coincidental that Melville wrote about Bartleby and his ways if he was not in the midst of company that behaved that way or had observed such behaviour in an individual as an outsider. Yes, the imagination of people is remarkable, however the description of Bartleby is just too similar to that of what we classify as ASD to ignore.
Almost a century later, Hans Asperger formally described a group of children that seemed to involve characteristics of autism. It is manifest that several of Bartleby’s characteristics noticeably resemble those that are currently used for diagnosis. Although there is no formal documentation, it is fitting to determine that Bartleby is the description of an individual with ASD or Asperger Syndrome, informally recognised in in the 1800s.
Consequently, this short story is evidence that the disorder did in fact exist long before ASD was officially categorised (Koegel, 2008).
In 1943 Leo Kanner was the first child psychiatrist to describe a group of 11 children that displayed a unique syndrome (Pellicano, Dinsmore & Charman, 2013).
Impairments in social communication, interaction with others, and the presence of restrictive/repetitive behaviours were evident (Waterhouse, Wing, Spitzer, & Siegel, 1992).
They were described as isolated and detached, used echolalia and had limited use of language, and also engaged in repetitive behaviours. Kanner’s work proposed that autism was an emotional disorder caused by biological and genetic factors (Webster, Cumming & Rowland, 2017).
So, there you have it! A brief history and why ASD is so frequently diagnosed. It is so prevalent in fact that in April, the statistics were reviewed, and it now stands at 1 in 59 children are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
This leads to so many questions and for many parents getting the answers prove a massive hurdle. Research is focused too much on the scientific causes and results of ASD rather than focusing on researching practices, strategies and support services that provide assistance for families of individuals with ASD for lifelong positive results.
Stay tuned for a continuation of how autism has evolved throughout the years in my next blog post.
Voula Valanidias