Status: 02/23/2023 06:00 a.m
The number of diagnosed cases of people with autism has been increasing for years. A new study from the USA shows that children are particularly affected. General practitioners’ practices are now also sensitized to the topic.
An increasing number of autism spectrum disorders are being reported around the world. A worldwide prevalence (incidence of disease) of 0.6 to one percent is currently assumed. The trend is also evident here: a new one study from the USA, which has now been published in the specialist journal “Pediatrics”, explains that around the metropolis of New York the diagnoses of autism spectrum disorders have increased by 500 percent. The highest increase in this study was in children. Why is that?
“An International Phenomenon”
“In terms of content, it initially does not provide much that is new. Since around the year 2000, there has been an increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorders worldwide, from previously in the per thousand range to now in a percentage range,” explains Sven Bölte, head of the Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders and the department for neuropsychiatry at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
“There are sometimes big differences in the pace in the different regions, but it’s an international phenomenon.” According to the scientist, the rate is now around one to three percent worldwide. There are no specific studies for Germany, but a value of one percent is often given.
Autism tends to run in families. The exact cause of autism has not yet been sufficiently researched, but genetic factors play a decisive role. Assumptions that autism is caused by loveless upbringing or by vaccines are considered disproved today. The influence of the environment, on the other hand, has not yet been sufficiently investigated.
Autism Spectrum Disorder
An autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It usually presents in infancy and affects social interactions, ways of communicating and some behavioral patterns. Autism is diagnostically divided into “Early Childhood Autism”, “Asperger’s Syndrome” and “Atypical Autism”. The forms overlap and there are different degrees of expression, which is why the generic term autism spectrum disorders is used.
More and more autistic people?
Whether there are actually more autistic people cannot simply be answered with yes or no. This is already illustrated by the figures from the current study from the USA, explains Bölte:
It is interesting that, according to the study, there are more diagnosed cases in high income brackets. In Sweden it’s the other way around. This certainly has something to do with health care and access to it. In the USA, good medical care is linked to income much more than in Sweden. For example, we do not see particularly high numbers for immigrants, who often also have lower incomes.
In the meantime, doctors no longer only distinguish between different forms of autism, such as Asperger’s syndrome, but rather assume a spectrum of autistic disorders. The diagnostic criteria have been expanded, which is why more people are already included.
“Today, many adults are also diagnosed with autism. Autism has opened up adult psychiatry, which was not the case in the past. People are diagnosed earlier today than they were then,” says Bölte. Girls are also diagnosed more frequently, who used to be overlooked because autism was long considered a disability for boys.
The fact that more diagnoses are being made these days is also a result of better training for doctors. In the best case, those affected will receive appropriate offers of help and therapy earlier and more frequently.
Trend diagnosis autism?
The topic of autism is also playing an increasingly important role in the media. Nevertheless, those affected often feel that they are not seen. Many people with autism still experience many barriers in society, for example when looking for a job: “The world of work in particular is only willing to respond to the needs of autistic people in individual cases,” explains Samuel Otto.
Otto is autistic himself and is committed to ensuring that those affected have more of a say in the media discussion about autism. “The media thing is a double-edged sword,” he says. Some of the media still conveyed stereotypes of, for example, socially isolated conspicuous autistic people. This is not an enlightening picture of autism.
“Nevertheless, this is how the topic is perceived by the media in the first place. In my opinion, this is not an ideal first step, but it is a necessary one.” Making people on this spectrum more visible – in series, films, books – also helps to recognize differences.
Otto also observes and criticizes fashion and a certain trend to imitate people with autism. There are now self-tests on the Internet: Everyone who is a little different or has problems with something feels a little autistic, which of course is not true.
suffering of a late diagnosis
However, Otto emphasized that the self-diagnosis was also an important first step towards the official diagnosis. Because he tried to function as a child and masked heavily, i.e. adapted, he initially fell through the diagnostic grid – like many others – which enormously prolonged the psychological strain for him. Despite increased attention, many of those affected wait a long time for an official diagnosis.
Current research work from the University of Cambridge show how dangerous this can be: The scientists have for the first time examined indications of autism and autistic traits in people who died by suicide in England. The researchers found that 10 percent of those who died by suicide showed evidence of strong autistic traits, indicating likely undiagnosed autism.
Previous research has already shown that both diagnosed autistic people and people with pronounced autistic traits are more prone to psychological problems, suicidal thoughts and behavior.