Correct. THe Autism Spectrum Disorder is what has increased the number of kids with diagnosis. And money for research and disability claims.
Yours is the most correct assessment of the situation.
As the father of a profoundly Autistic 11 year old boy, I can assure everyone it is not lack of disipline or desire to extract money from the school district that made him that way.
However, years ago when I joined a couple of national Autism advocation organizations, the number affected was one in 500. I thought then that was a little high but I do remember discussions with other members regarding the amount of government research grants that went to AIDS, arguably a preventable condition, versus research dollars directed towards Autism, with much more mysterious causes and solutions.
Thus was born the incentive to inflate the numbers of affected in order to get a bigger piece of the research pie.
Those with an Engineering education make up less than 1% of the population of the US. This latest statistic would not only make every Engineer (I r 1) Autistic, but every mathamatician and scientist as well.
One could argue that such a statistical process would benefit my son. I argue the opposite. People may think my son will grow out of it or run a major software company someday because Autism has been classified so broadly. But the reality is he will be living at home with my wife and I until we ourselves are deceased.
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