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Okay, how about this as an ‘evolutionary psychological’ explanation for the increase in autism:

Autism is due not to vaccines, but to a coincidence of genetic traits each of which would tend to make one a bit geeky. So long as being a geek was a detriment to finding a mate, autism had a relatively low incidence. But not with the increased importance of computers, being a geek (at least of the intelligent, nerd variety) is seen as a positive trait in many circles, and geeks can get laid, get married and have kids. Thus the incidence of the contributing genetic traits has been on the rise, and as a result their coincidence in autism.

I don’t think I’m serious, but it was fun to propose the hypothesis.

I think you are right. I live in Silicon Valley, and there are lots of very intelligent people that live here. My household is a 2 engineer household (except that I quit when became a mom). Anyway,there are a lot of us around here.

I also think there are other contributing factors, one being misdiagnosis.

My daughter has a speech problem called apraxia. There are many kids with speech problems that are misdiagnosed as having autism. Most kids with speech problems tend to have social problems.

My daughter had a severe illness as a baby and had brain damage (could see it on MRI), so no one ever thought she had autism. However, if her MRI had been clear and she had never been sick, I am sure she would have been diagnosed as autistic.

The problem with misdiagnosis is that treatment is very different. Kids with apraxia have motor-planning problems (coordination problems), and doing Applied Behaviorial Therapy with them can really cause them problems.

>>>Autism is due not to vaccines, but to a coincidence of genetic traits each of which would tend to make one a bit geeky. So long as being a geek was a detriment to finding a mate, autism had a relatively low incidence. But not with the increased importance of computers, being a geek (at least of the intelligent, nerd variety) is seen as a positive trait in many circles, and geeks can get laid, get married and have kids. Thus the incidence of the contributing genetic traits has been on the rise, and as a result their coincidence in autism.<<<

Hmmmm. A little evolution 101 is in order here. Intelligence is a trait that has been selected for survival value over thousands, perhaps millions, of years. In the competition between stupid and smart, smart wins most of the time, and it’s the winner who gets to mate.

Being a “geek” also has its charms, although in former times and other cultures we might have called the “geek” names like shaman, priest, oracle, storyteller, and so forth. Mating in the human species isn’t just a matter of obvious secondary and primary sexual characteristics; it’s also a matter of engaging emotions and ideas. There’s a reason why words like “mysterious” and “dreamy” are often attached to prospective mates.

One generation of computing isn’t going to change all that.

Ppersonally, I think the rise in “autism” stems from better diagnosis and spreading the definition of the disorder to include more people.

In the meantime, let me tell you as a former single geek, I had no trouble passing along my DNA to interested women, even before computers were commonplace. LOL