Autism is complex, and it was wrong for RFK to say that the cause will be known by September (I will not say more so as not to be political).
Also- it is common for genetic testing to be negative. Maybe this is a true negative, maybe all of the genes have not yet been discovered.
This week I have seen in the news that the causative factors for autism might be made public in the near future. The US rates of autism have sky-rocketed over the last 50 years as have other countries; but France and Italy (comparatively) have lower rates. What do you think accounts for this? I know friends who have various gluten issues are able to eat the bread and pasta in Italy for instance but not in the US. Is there something those countries are doing to have a healthier population. Some of the information coming out is alarming (red food dye)… so I am really starting to look at ways to eat/live healthier. It seems ironic that humans are living longer but our kids seem to be getting sicker.
Likely due to greater sensitivity in diagnosis.
Food dyes are typically used in foods that are unhealthy in other respects. For example, cereals that are mostly sugar are unhealthy whether or not they have food dyes.
Medical advances can also keep alive people who would otherwise die, although perhaps not in perfect health.
Autism is very complex and what is reported in the news should be viewed with that in mind.There are both genetic and environmental factors, however most with these risk factors do not develop autism. Risk factors and causes are not the same.
It could be differences in diagnosis.
Perhaps our entire notion of autism as a “disorder” needs to be reevaluated. Having various family members on the spectrum and with very different levels of impact, I see it as a set of traits (genetic, personality, neurological) that are present in all populations but their expression can certainly be affected by the culture and norms of their particular environment and time/place.
There have been introverted, taciturn people - sometimes also identified as savants - described in literature for as long as there has been literature. Those who don’t make eye contact, or who repeat phrases, or engage in forms of stimulation - these are all characters that we have seen repeatedly throughout history. Autism as we know it has always existed IMO.
Once our proto modern society landed on a 40 hr school week and work week, those individuals would have (and did) become more noticeable as those new societal expectations fit very badly with their natures.
The spectrum of expressions of autism includes so many different factors, and it can be hard to see the “similarities” between a person who is nonverbal and unable to care for themselves compared with, for example, an Elon Musk.
I guess my point here is that the framing of autism as an epidemic disease (which implies some level of contagion?) is not only harmful but ahistorical.
Until recently (~15-20 years) the French medical body didn’t accept that autism existed. Psychoanalysis is big there and psychoanalysis had some Freudian explanation about mother love deficit or some other BS. Kids were supposed to improve on their own. When that didn’t happen, the mother was blamed, the kid considered insane, and the culprit tasked with caring for the kid who could (but not always did) attend a special school. Parents who could tried to get their kids seen and enrolled at school in Belgium, Switzerland, some even moved.
Accomodations are truly awful even today - kids with average intelligence and autism will simply be thrown into overcrowded classrooms where they may have an aide a couple hours a week and are permanently surrounded by noise, lights, and lots of kids moving&jostling.
The series Astrid has been doing a lot of work trying to explain some aspects of the autism spectrum, in particular helping general viewers understand it’s a way to process things not an attachment issue or synonymous with “insane”.
So, diagnosis by actual doctors only started recently - there’s a “Plan autisme” but I’m not sure it’s that helpful.
France has very strict guidelines wrt food (including pesticides, cattle/chicken farm conditions, animal welfare ..) on top of the EU’s guidelines (stricter than the UK’s themselves stricter than the US so odds are US industry lobbies would never bring US standards to EU standards let alone French standards.)
Today, you might be more prone to seeing “autism spectrum traits” when working in some areas like computing.
France does indeed have particularities when it comes to certain diagnoses. ADHD is regarded with the same skepticism and impulse to blame the mother/poor parenting which surely leads to lower diagnosis rates. And medication used for mental health support is frowned upon much like it was here 30yrs ago.
In general there is an effort in French society (and specifically in schools) to avoid being labeled as anything different, and this likely influences parents to not seek out diagnoses for children that are otherwise manageable.
The belief in Jungian/Freudian psychotherapy is another interesting factor as mentioned above. Until fairly recently (a few decades ago), French employers also relied on graphologists to “interpret” the personalities of potential hires by analyzing their handwritten CVs.
Wow, that’s sad to hear about France. I’m so thankful to live in a place and time where I’m not blamed for my son’s mental illness.
Early intervention services in some European countries are not as robust as they are in the US.
While children ages birth-3 in the US might receive services (speech, OT, etc) 2-3 times per week, children in some European countries (I met directly with one of these families) might only receive services 1 time a month.
These providers are often the first ones in the identification process.
Social stigma is a big reason why there’s less early intervention in some European countries. And that underscores again just how harmful Kennedy’s careless words are. The U.S. has made enormous strides in treating autism, ADHD, and all sorts of other neurological, developmental. and mental health issues because of decades of relentless advocacy work by people like his Aunt Eunice (and so many others) to lower the stigma around these conditions.
You can’t treat something you haven’t diagnosed yet. Better training and awareness to doctors, therapist’s etc will bring about more diagnosis.
Breaking News…
RFKjr wants all cancers cured by a week from next Thursday…
With grape juice, like my dad’s side of the family thinks is the cure for cancer? Sigh.
I agree with this 100%. I have two nephews (late 20s) diagnosed as on the spectrum in the late 90s/early 2000s. However, the way it is diagnosed today my Dad (80 y.o.) and my brother (late 40s) would have almost definitely been diagnosed. And I myself would likely have been diagnosed. I have long known about the traits of autism, but it wasn’t until a year or two ago that I realized that it would explain a lot of my odd traits and preferences
I think my best friend would be diagnosed with it, too. She was always odd. I’ve shared before that in 8th grade, I sat next to her at lunch just because the guidance counselor asked me to. And I discovered she was amazing! We’re still friends, 50 years later. 