Full blown autism has always been around, we just called it “retarded”. I remember a couple of kids in school.
What we see now are more subtle cases. I know a few kids that are on the borderline of “indulged”. We got our butts kicked regularly for being “weird”. That calmed the weirdness. I remember Bill pounding me every day in 6th grade for “rocking” because I sat in front of him in class. After a steady diet of that, I learned to adapt.
that rocking you did was just a “tic”....I think a tic is an excellent way to relieve anxiety as long as its in a socially acceptable form...