Anyone have info on the prevalence for this in Europe?
If it’s lower in other cultures then it could be a difference in child-rearing.
I am a mother of an Autistic Child. He has Asperger’s. Believe me, it is not due to lack of parenting skills. I am a stay at home mom. It is a severe social disorder in the case of my child. He can not read body language. He had to be taught. He had to be taught to understand allegories, euphemisms, saracasm, etc. He can not cope with large crowds and noise. IT is too many sensory inputs. He is however, sweet, honest, very smart, and loving.
Let me illustrate it for you. He could not possibly understand why people would be in jail. To his logic God gave us the Ten Commandments. They are the rules. To violate God’s Rules is unthinkable. Therefore why would people break the rules and end up in jail?
Another is the phrase madder than a wet hen. He doesn’t understand why the hen would be wet or why an animal would be upset about rain.
This is not some made up excuse for our child’s behavior. It is something that he copes with daily. Then add all the confusing messages he gets outside the house. Its rough on these kids.
From the article:
"In South Korea, a recent study found a prevalence rate of one in 38 children, and a study in England found autism at roughly the same rate — 1 percent — in adults as in children, implying that the condition had gone unidentified previously, rather than an actual increase in its incidence."
That's the best I can do about other countries.