Savage may be wrong, but you make an assertion that’s unprovable. The mechanism for autism is unknown. Toss in “autism spectrum”. Now you have a mess ripe for the universities to guilt us into insisting our lawmakers provde more funding for “research” which will never bear fruit because then the grants will end.
He should not have used a percentage, but much of the “autism spectrum”, like Asperger’s (with which my cousin has been diagnosed) is overblown.
Autism covers a group of related disorders like the term Cancer does. It only makes sense when more is learned the types of disorders splinter off or become disqualified and fall into a different category.
They do know or highly suspect some things in Autism one of which is genetics. REALITY? I know two sisters now in their mid-late 30's who have Muscular Dystrophy onset at toddler age. The type has been guessed wrong several times and now they just don't know. It doesn't mean they don't have it as their wheelchairs speak for themselves. People want instant cut and dry concrete answers where in Medical Science the answers have not been found yet.
Now when the family was told the kids would not live to puberty everyone was heart broken. They made it though. So do we curse medical science for ignorance? The used the best knowledge they had for a prognoses at that time. No we were happy it was wrong and I imagine so were the doctors. I can imagine a parent who finally finds out their kid isn't Autistic would be happy unless the new diagnoses is much worse.
I've lived with the ADD ADHD diagnoses most my life up till my mid 30's anyway. At age 37 I found out why. I don't have ADD ADHD but I do have sensory processing damage. Very similar symptoms. However I found out I cannot take SSRI's. A research Neurologist book I found by accident gave me the answers but not a disorder name. My disorder falls under to categories one is Central Auditory/Visual Processing Disorders and the other is General Anxiety Disorder which Social Security excepts as a disabling disorder.
The doctors were trying to treat the anxiety & did not understand the link of Vestibular and sensory processing disorders cause and effect of which a secondary condition of it is Anxiety. Knowing this I can now see why ADD ADHD is thought to be an epidemic. Doctors are not making the Sinus allergy/chronic ear infection connection to behavioral issues. Add to that these kids with damaged processing systems are being bombarded with triggers that were not there a couple of decades ago like Nitendo etc.
It's not conspiracy. It's simply people wanting cut and dry answers for medical conditions where in many cases none exist. BTW an Audiologist diagnoses those type of disorders by a battery of test aimed at the persons tasking abilities.