Comment by tjwebbnorfolk
1 month ago
I know this is the conventional view. But is it possible that the prevalence of autism has been somewhat exaggerated and overdiagnosed? There's a CLEAR profit motive here...
1 month ago
I know this is the conventional view. But is it possible that the prevalence of autism has been somewhat exaggerated and overdiagnosed? There's a CLEAR profit motive here...
Yes, but also we've gotten better at diagnosis. Both things are likely true to varying degrees.
That said, Elon is one of the most obviously autistic people I've ever seen. He's not a great example of overdiagnosis. In fact, if autism hadn't already been discovered they'd have taken one look at him and invented Elontism.
No it's not over exaggerated at all. Autism is highly prevalent and everywhere. The industry made a mistake, it originally assumed autism was a rare condition, but now we're starting to see that it's a personality trait because it's so common. We're coming to similar realizations for other things like the concept of gender as well as society modernizes and gets rid of out-dated thinking practices.
Autism is not a personality trait. Many people are severely disabled by it and are essentially non-functional.
Only about 15-20% have full time jobs. The suicide rate is incredibly, almost unbelievably, high. I think it was something like 80% have attempted suicide.
Personally I think we need more subtypes again. Its weird to lump high functioning aspergers folks like the richest man in the world into the same category as those who have to wear helmets and be physically prevented from harming themselves.
False the definition is fiercely contested and from many angles it can be considered a personality trait.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/31/autism-could...
7 replies →
We're on hackernews. Half of us in here probably joke about being autistic ourselves. That doesn't mean we need to give Pfizer and Blackstone billions of dollars for pills and treatment.
Not all of us are convinced that each and every component of human diversity needs to be treated as an ailment and medicated. Autism, as the name implies, is a spectrum. But we've widened the spectrum so far that its become meaningless. There are profoundly autistic people who can't speak who would not recognize my diagnosis of autism simply because I have trouble looking people in the eye.
You mention gender, and that's a perfect example: we've widened it to include every possible thing. And when it comes to the over-diagnosis/overmedication question: You can be just fine with the idea that gender is a spectrum, but also believe that giving hormones and surgery to teenagers is utterly insane.