The number of autistic people has grown dramatically, especially among adults and women, according to a recent British study. This increase would essentially be due to an enlargement of the definition of this development disorder. Testimonials.
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It was the language therapist who noticed that something was wrong. “She came regularly to us to help my autistic son to learn to speak, says Billie Cochrane, a young Scottish woman of 30 years. But I could not follow her instructions.” The specialist told her to take a tone of voice expressive or to make great animated gestures to encourage his son. “It was not at all natural for me, she recalls. I ended up asking my sister to send me voice messages, which I imitated.”
One day, the therapist offered to see a doctor. This made the diagnosis of level 1 autism spectrum disorders, their most benign shape. Far from being surprised, the Scottish felt an immense relief. “I finally understood why I am as I am,” she slips. As a child, I could not bear routine interruptions. I was inventing homework during the summer holidays, then I collapsed in tears Just before the start of the school year. “
Billie Cochrane is part of a growing cohort of women and adults recognized as autistic, while disorder was once considered as an essentially male phenomenon discovered during childhood. “The incidence of autism believed 787 % in the United Kingdom between 1998 and 2018, going from 3072 to 65,655 new cases per year, says Ginny Russell, a researcher from the University of Exeter, who participated at a study on The subject published in August 2021. The increase was the most marked in women and adults. “
” The general public better informed “
This trend is verified outside the United Kingdom. In the United States, the prevalence of autism increased from 1 in 150 to 1 in 44 children between 2000 and 2018. This increase is mainly due to better knowledge of the disease. “General practitioners are more aware of it and therefore recognize it more often, says Ginny Russel. Thanks to the activism of autistic defense associations and the many press articles published on the subject, the general public is also better informed. In Case of doubt, parents no longer hesitate to claim an assessment of their child. “In the United Kingdom, several personalities, including television presenter Melanie Sykes and model Christine McGuinness, recently mentioned their autism, discovered at the ‘adulthood.
This was added an evolution of the very definition of autism, which was considerably extended. The fifth edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM) published in 2013 has indeed replaced the appellation “invasive developmental disorders”, including in particular autism and Asperger’s syndrome, by a new category called “disorder from the autism spectrum “comprising four sub-divisions ranging from the most to least serious.
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