The Rise of Autism

In the grand scheme of things, Autism is not that old. I have a house built in 1909, and the word “Autism” is only one year older. At that time, it was being looked at as schizophrenia. A retreat inside to avoid the harsh realities of life. Based on pattern recognition and the Autism checklist, there can be many people in history identified as being on the spectrum.

Thomas Jefferson was definitely Autistic. And his dynamically opposed foe, Alexander Hamilton, has a touch of the ’tism. If I really dove in, I could point out that almost every major breakthrough that was achieved out of curiosity was done so by someone with Autism.

So, while the diagnosis is “new” the condition is not.

But, Autistic people are generally quiet and low key, so the message about Autism has been controlled by non-Autistic people. It is usually the parents of Autistic people that are the loudest because they want to explain away why they cannot connect with their offspring. A rise of Jenny McCarthyism brought a loud shouting about vaccines causing the condition and trying to cure this condition. And the massive amounts of money that was collected went into “fixing” Autistic people instead of trying to find a way to understand us.

The number of people identified as being on the Autism Spectrum is rising fast. Some (small minded people) are calling it an epidemic. Some are calling it a crisis. What they are missing is that it is just the opening of communication lines and people on the spectrum finally speaking up.

I was born in the 1970s. I was 48 years old when I was diagnosed. My significant other was also in their 40s. I didn’t all of a sudden catch the ’tism. I had it my whole life, I just didn’t understand why I was different. And, once I was diagnosed, I was able to relive my life and review everything and it made sense.

Finding a Community Through Autism

I was excited about it and talked to people who were curious. And they realized that they might also be on the spectrum. And then when they were identified or diagnosed, they were excited and talked about it, and so on and so on and so on. The epidemic is one of sharing and excitement. Not that we have a “disorder”, but that we have an explanation for our feelings of being alienated by the normal people. We are excited that there is actually others like us that understand us.

And more and more people are realizing, the loud kid in the classroom shouting about being normal wasn’t the normal one, they were just the loudest one. And all the quiet kids felt distanced because the loud kid was the one getting the attention.

As an Autistic person, I see patterns, and this is a pattern that has repeated itself throughout history. Other groups have gone through a similar struggle. The loud voice screaming about what normal is drowning out the value of the individual. Then the individual being driven into the corner to quietly and separating away form the others that are just like them.

So, as more people begin sharing their stories on social media, making movies and television, and creating books that say, “This is what I went through” and those in the corner identifying with it, the number of people with Autism will continue to rise. It will rise, not because of something in the water, some parental failure, not because something is wrong. The number will rise because information is contagious, and that is very right.