Here is a discussion that though not by any means presented as "the final word" but I was impressed with the young author's work.. Professor Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt University is cited in the article. (W/o double checking I will say that it is obvious that Pope John Paul II High School is NOT a public high school) Redefining Autism
BTW, I prefer contumely rather than curse words from those who do not agree with what I have provided. But of course the option is yours.
I’m not sure if it was from the same researcher, but I heard about a recent study done in California, where they found that one of the major factors in autism diagnoses turned out to be the proximity to other families with ASD children. Since autism isn’t contagious, and they haven’t found an environmental cause, the conclusion was that this was due to social factors. So, either knowing other children diagnosed with it made parents start recognizing (or thinking that they recognized) symptoms in their own children, or doctors in that area were giving out diagnoses more liberally.