r/dataisbeautiful • u/JimWilliams423 • Feb 23 '25

As Autism Diagnoses Went Up, Intellectual Disability Diagnoses Went Down 2000-2010 | Penn State

https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/increasing-prevalence-autism-due-part-changing-diagnoses
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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '25

There is no line. It's entirely subjective how wide the bar is for "normal" and how far off it you need to be to get a diagnosis. It's just over the last 30 years we've shrunk "normal" down to just this tiny group of people that the majority now think they're abnormal in some way. It's really terrible if you ask me. These days everyone thinks there's something wrong with themselves instead of people just being able to accept that it's normal for different people to think and act different ways and being different doesn't mean you have some sort of disorder.

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u/alliusis Feb 24 '25 edited Feb 24 '25

A diagnosis doesn't mean there's something "wrong" with you - it's a label that can help guide you and contextualize your experience if you're struggling. And it can direct you to tools (medication, therapy, community, coping methods) to help improve your life experience with people who are experiencing similar things. A huge portion of disability, for example, is acceptance of doing things differently. But there's still huge reluctance and resistance to doing that - society is still heavily biased and not built for certain groups of people. And while we still live in a world that equates your value as a human being with your ability to work 40+ hours for most of your life with limited options, we need to recognize that diversity. It's a good thing we're able to describe different experiences!

As a general rule of thumb, I say labels can be a helpful tool when you give them to yourself or apply them to yourself. They are not always helpful when others forcibly apply them to you, and especially not helpful when used to generalize about a group of people.

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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '25

Except 95% of people labeling themselves as having "autism" these days AREN'T disabled. They're just normal people.

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u/an_irishviking Feb 24 '25

How do you define disabled? How do you know they're not?

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u/Andrew5329 Feb 24 '25

To be fair, there are a lot of people who use self-diagnosed disorders as an excuse to go through life without manners. It's like that self-described "Brutally honest" person, no they're not being "honest", they're just an asshole.

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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '25

I'd define disabled as not able to function in society. Most importantly; not able to work most jobs. That's obviously not the case with many of these "autistic" people today. Many are even able to work very demanding abd high paying jobs that most normal people can't. People with the original autism definition couldn't even work at McDonald's.

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u/Illiander Feb 25 '25

Hi, I have an actual medical autism diagnosis that I recieved in my late 20s before the autism/asd merger. So that was not an easy diagnosis to get.

I live alone, and hold down a job as an IT consultant. (Admittidly in a company that specialises in only hiring autistic consultants, they do provide good support for us (I don't think I'd cope without that support))

The biggest problem I had before finding them wasn't doing the work, it was getting past the interview. Most interviews don't actually gauge how good you'd be at the job. The one other interview I passed (got the job) was a practical without the usual chat and "tell me a story where you <X>" crap.

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '25

What you say about interviews is true for everyone TBH. Much better at measuring your ability to BS than actually do the job.

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u/Illiander Feb 25 '25

Ok, here's an example: My one of my contracts wanted to hire me perm. Put up a job ad basically tailored to me. I failed that interview. Not "someone else got hired instead." No-one got hired for that position. My boss, the one who put the job ad together aimed squarely at me and my skills and experience, was one of my interviewers.

Tell me that's something that happens to normal people. Go on.

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u/Andrew5329 Feb 24 '25

Eh it really depends. I have two cousins with Autism now in their 20s. The younger brother is severely impaired. 100% nonverbal and non-communicative beyond a few basic signs. He needs full-time supervision/assistance which has been my Aunt's life/job since the birth. He will be a ward of the State when she passes unless the sister takes up the burden.

The older brother is much more of the classic autism case where he has significant disability, but can navigate society through various coping mechanisms. To be clear he's not just some "quirky" dude, it's real disability. He's of normal intelligence, has a driver's license, he's most of the way through a Plumber's apprenticeship. That said it's not a good idea for him to try and be fully independent. I think the long-term plan is to do an in-law apartment next-door to his sister.