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> affecting about 1 in 60 boys and that there has been a 30% increase of it in the last two years

Something is changing, so what is it?
It is not the boys.

A small part of it may be over-diagnosing normal juvenile male behaviour, but I'm going to propose that the elephant in the room is diet.

Over the last half century, the following issues have crept into diet, and are rising (as are the trend lines for a distressing number of ailments, including ASD):

gluten-bearing grains, esp the product now sold as "wheat", which is a contaminant in the majority of processed foods
rise in sugar consumption, esp. HFCS, which has issues of its own, and is also a contaminant in the majority of processed foods
the high glycemic diet generally - the USDA recommends an insane 60% of calories from carbs, and most people are eating even more than that - it needs to be more like 10% or less (corn is also a common contaminant in processed foods, and it is very high gly)
low fat mania, which has resulted in reduced intake of crucial fats - DHA and EPA omega 3, and an increase in intake of adverse fats (omega 6 industrial seed oils)
any number of other contenders for the title of cause, such as GMO side effects, glyphosate uptake, hormones and analogs in food, antibiotics in food. etc.

Are all of these to blame?
Probably not, but some of them are.

Dr. Perlmutter ("Grain Brain") reports excellent results in treating ADD simply by getting kids off grains and adding EPA/DHA supplements.

For anyone facing this, changing aisles at the supermarket may be the cheapest most effective thing you can do. And switching to a low-carb high-fat grain-free diet can benefit the whole family.

About the wheat situation. I've switched to 100% whole grains. I don't eat anything with added gluten or corn syrup. I no longer have a problem with gluten. I'm wondering if the gluten in overprocced grains and the added gluten are the primary part of the problem.

Another thing I wonder about is if constantly staring at technology, flourescent lights and the absence of natural sunlight don't contribute significantly to the problem.

Over the last half century, the following issues have crept into diet, and are rising (as are the trend lines for a distressing number of ailments, including ASD):

Yes, possibly. I have an oldest daughter with Asperger's and two children who do NOT have it, so this diet issue must affect one and not the others? They all have the same diet.

When one child walks around the perimeter of the playground over and over again ... I could go on and on. We started homeschooling after first grade. She's also gifted.

One thing that intrigues me is gut bacteria. My oldest daughter was slammed with Roseola when she was a year old. It made her eyes bug out (I think one is damaged to this day) and caused a high fever spike. She had a round of antibiotics for that and then later two more rounds for ear infections.

I WISH I'd known then what I know now about probiotics. The poor child was never given any. :-( I did give them children's yogurt, but that's about it.

Now, many parents are giving their children probiotics regularly.

Psychologists are starting to treat anxiety, depression, and OCD with probiotics.

I have a son with Asperger’s and I’ll tell you exactly why there are more diagnoses now than in the past.

Before the era of no hit, no taunt discipline, either parents, siblings or school mates of the milder cases would beat, berate, belittle or otherwise coerce a suppression of the ‘aberrant’ behaviors.

I know from personal experience that high functioning kids can learn how to internalize or rechannel their behavior dramatically under these conditions.

We are sheltering our son as best we can, and trying to help him steer his choices rather than dictate them to him. We see glimpses from time to time that he understands he is going to need to learn how to find a niche in larger society. I hate that there are no easy answers to any of this.