The incidence of autism has increased by an alarming rate in recent years. In the early 1980s, the prevalence of autism was roughly 1 in 10,000 children. Today 1 in 150 children develop autism. Rates for Australia have been calculated to be up to 1 in 125 and, in New Zealand, 1 in 100. It has reached epidemic proportions.

The increase in the rate of autism cannot, as some insist, be due solely to better diagnosis. In most children with untreated autism, symptoms usually become worse over time. If the increase in the rate of autism these days is due to better diagnosis, then where are all the young adults with autism now?

Neither can genetics account for the rapid increase in the rate of autism, as genes simply do not change so fast. While genetic factors are involved, the development of autism largely depends on multiple environmental insults. The possibility of improvement and even recovery through modification of the relevant environmental factors therefore becomes a reality.

Defining autism

On the whole, conventional medical practice views autism as purely a psychiatric disorder. However, over the last couple of decades, with new research and understanding, a biomedical approach has evolved which sees autism as a neuro-developmental disorder with impairment of brain function as just one of its symptoms.

In fact autism is the most severe of several Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). These disorders can often sound like a jumbled alphabet. The main ASDs are autism, Asperger’s syndrome (AS), Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and Rett syndrome (RS). Others illnesses belonging to the spectrum include oppositional defiance disorder (ODD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD); some specialists even class attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as the mildest forms of ASD.

There are several types of autism. In infantile autism, typical neurological development never occurs. Some autistic symptoms are evident from birth while others become obvious as developmental milestones are not reached, particularly with speech.

Regressive autism occurs when initial development is normal and healthy and then at a point, often around 18 months of age, development starts to regress. First signs may be a loss of language skills or eye contact.

High functioning autism (HFA) is a condition where individuals display autistic characteristics, particularly social impairment, but are able to function at close to a normal level in society. They are often very intelligent and sometimes gifted, their symptoms only becoming obvious in social situations where they may be unable to predict or read other people’s emotional responses to events, such as something that has been said. They may appear somewhat disconnected or removed, particularly in situations where there is a lot of sensory stimulation.

Asperger’s syndrome is a pervasive developmental disorder, often referred to as a form of HFA, which is characterised by normal or above-average intelligence and poorly developed social skills with emotional and social development occurring later than normal. Some children previously diagnosed with autism may be re-diagnosed with Asperger’s if they show improvement.