Why autism rates have increased

[Bernard]

An eye opener for me.

whenever having a diagnosis carries a benefit, it will be overused

Sounds right.

Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/opinion/why-autism-rates-increased.html?unlocked_article_code=1.RE8.LNUi.2EcH6aQgF8zc&smid=url-share

[Mik]

There’s gold in them thar ills.

[CHAS]

My former wife was a speech pathologist. The diagnosis or autism is widely applied to the very low IQ kids. There is no money in low IQs. She had to deal with the kids and treat them as autistic.

[ShiroKuro]

@CHAS said in Why autism rates have increased:

There is no money in low IQs.

Can you say more about this? Is it because people think autism can be helped/improved upon, but they give up on kids with low IQs?

[Mik]

Low IQ does not have an ICD10 code.

[wtg]

It's probably like the codes for hospice. They had to code my Mom as having fronto-temporal dementia because that's what Medicare will cover. She didn't have FTD, she had vascular dementia.

[Mik]

Dementia is an ever evolving target, diagnostically. Our science hasn’t caught up to the wide range of possibilities.

[CHAS]

@ShiroKuro I think Mik has answered that question.