So, now that everyone is clear that vaccines do not cause autism, I am going to ramble on a bit about what I think might "cause" it. This is purely rambling, based on nothing more than my own observations and common sense, etc. It's not a soap box really, and it certainly isn't a fun post full of pretty pictures, just the insights (right or wrong, who knows?) of a mom.
There is a lot of talk these days about the spike in autism rates, and a lot of attempts out there to explain why this is happening, and why it happens more in some countries than others (the US being one of the "leaders" in this spike).
I think just about everyone can agree that the spike can be explained, in part, by more awareness and a tendency to diagnose higher functioning people who would never have a had a label beyond"quirky" or "weird" or "shy" etc., previously.
Nonetheless, the numbers are too high for this to be the only reason. While there are, I am sure, many contributing factors, I think one of the big ones is NOT that there are more autistic people now, but rather that our society has changed in such a way that autistic individuals have a harder time coping and THAT leads to more times when people act in way that we identify as a problem and label as "autism"
Sensory overload: We know that autistic people often struggle with sensory overload in one or more areas. If you stop to think for a moment, we have a lot more sensory inputs to manage in the modern world than we ever did before.
There is a much bigger variety of foods in a typical grocery store these days--from more fruits and vegetables (remember when kiwi was the "new" and popular fruit in the US in the 80s? I do.) to a wider range of spices.
There are more sounds, from a greater variety of sources hitting our ears: the hum of computers, cell phones ringing in a myriad of tones, car alarms and electronic toys to name only a few. Most stores, or even schools (where we now consolidate more than one local neighborhood into a building) are busier, meaning there are just more individual sounds and sights in one space than there used to be.
Visually, more and more of the world we spend time in is specifically designed by advertisers and marketers to draw our attention to one thing or another and be visually striking or appealing in some way.
And most people have a greater radius that they cover in day to day life now than they did even 30 years ago--leading to simply seeing and hearing more in a given day that needs to be processed. And so on. All that processing of all that sensory input can be taxing for anyone, but especially for those who are extra sensitive to it.
Overwhelming Choice: It can be very easy for autistic people to become overwhelmed making decisions. Anxiety about making the wrong decisions, or even just not making the best one, can be debilitating. And there are a lot of decisions to make these days.
Even toddlers, for the most part, have substantially more toys at home now than the typical two year old in the 80s did, much less in the fifties. Simply choosing which toy to pick up and play with has become harder. They probably have more clothes in their close, more acquaintances to choose to play with, more options when asked if they want to go for fast food, and even more choices of what to order once they get to the fast food place place than their counterparts of a generation or more back. As you grow, the choices just multiply. Which sport to take? What club to join? Which grocery store to go to? Even relaxing with a TV show is no longer about flipping on the TV when the show is on, it is deciding among literally thousands of options that can be streamed or put on DVD, etc at any time--which one do you choose?
Increasingly Complex Social Structures: I grew up at a time when kindergarten was primarily about playing and learning social skills. Even first and second grades involved a whole lot of art projects, parties and games, also aimed more at learning to be social than at academics. Kids who struggle to grasp social skills intuitively were getting a huge help with this set up, and even the more socially intuitive kids probably ended up on more of the same page than they might have been otherwise.
In our push to raise test scores, we have put more and more emphasis on academics even in kindergarten, leaving less time for social training, a lack which is made all the worse by our increasingly difficult to navigate society.
Not that long ago, socializing outside of the immediate family stopped for nearly everyone around 8 or 9 pm and did not start up again until around 8 the next morning. There was a decent amount of time to decompress from the pressures of the outside world. These days, emails, texts, snapchats and the like fly at all hours of the day or night. Even if a teen is required to shut down all of their electronics for the night, there is the worry and pressure of having to "catch up" on what happened through the night and early morning in order to be a part of the conversation at school the next day.
And the conversations are so much more varied. When I was in junior high, I could count on the conversation on Friday morning centering around what happened on Family Ties and The Cosby Show the night before. The security of that kind of predictability is long gone now.
All of these various ways of communicating also have their own "rules" and norms to learn. Kids today no longer have to master only the rules for communicating with other kids, family, and adults beyond family--the level of formality for adults varies from person to person much more than I recall from my own childhood: AND they have to learn to read tone not only in person and over the phone but in smilies and super short written comments (texts); etc.
Feeding an Obsession is Easier Than Ever: Autistic people are known for their tendency to obsess about one or more interests: from the kid who can tell you everything about every dinosaur to have once roamed the earth to the teen who can quote every line of Star Trek and is learning Klingon to the gentleman across the street who follows all developing weather patterns worldwide. Just about everyone has hobbies and interests that can reach obsessive levels at times, but people with autism often take theirs just one step further and often struggle with understanding when or how to stop obsessing with knowing when that interest begins to dominate their lives in an unhealthy way or when to stop sharing their interest with a less interested friend, classmate or co worker.
I think now it is easier to be drawn into whatever you interest is, to the exclusion of too many other things, than the it was in the pre digital age. Twenty or more years ago, to learn more about your hobby required going, in person, to a library or book store (which tended to be pretty small, without nearly as many titles on display as we have now) or magazine shop and hoping to find a new title you had not read before--but it was very often the case that there were no new titles on the shelf, or that you needed so save up for that nice book. You might subscribe to a magazine that came chock full of exciting and new information that you would greedily devour once a month. If you love a TV show, you would be sure to be home and tuned in every time it aired (on a nice, preset schedule--usually once a week). Etc.
Essentially, the somewhat limited availability of information put a natural limit on the extent to which one could devote time and attention to any one topic, and often some (at least minor) social interaction was required to gain more information. Also, not being able to access information about your passion all the time, meant there was a lot more time spent doing other things, like honing social skills, or learning about topics that your friends and neighbors are interested in.
A person with a similar interest in the modern age can find nearly every title ever written on a subject just by going to amazon.com. Many can be bought and read instantly on kindle or similar devices. Not to mention the plethora of articles, vlogs, documentaries and other information available online, free of charge, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Wow.
It can be hard for anyone to know when to stop, probably more so for someone autistic and who might be finding some temporary relief from anxiety while enjoying pursuing knowledge in an area they are passionate about.
Loss of Predictability: Yet another common trait among those with autism is that they like to know what to expect, either by clinging to a schedule or being told about a plan ahead of time, etc. For people who are often overwhelmed by external stimuli and coping with social situations, being able to "practice" situations ahead of time, by predicting them and going through the motions in their imaginations, is really useful. And, of course, it is simply easier to cope with anything you have been through a few times before than a brand new situation. Overall, life is not as predictable or routine these days as it was before the start of the "autism epidemic." Our ever increasing circles and technology, mean everything (from who you might encounter as a cashier at the grocery store, to what the topic of conversation in the school cafeteria over lunch to who your next door neighbor will be next year or what teacher you might have in 5th grade) is less predictable than it once was, which is just one more piece of constant low grade anxiety eating away at the coping reserves of many people.
Do I think the changing world, combined with a greater tendency to diagnose, accounts for 100% of the rise in autism rates? No, but I think the two combined probably account for the majority of the rise. I don't have a shred of science to back my hunches up, but I sure would love to see researchers starting to look at these possibilities. If, indeed, we determine that autism is not a disease that can be cured, but rather, a personality that simply needs help learning to cope in our changing world, well, that opens up so many new and different ways of working to help people, and a whole new attitude in working with and discussing people who have this diagnosis doesn't it? After all, should you really "diagnose" a personality?
--Hadley
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