Have you ever noticed that autism seems to be a US thing?

[bostero]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I noticed that on certain well-known social websites, a lot of users talk openly about being some level of autistic. News and other popular media pieces discuss the subject often enough as well. It's widely known that rates of the condition have skyrocketed in the US in the last couple of decades. Before that, it was unheard-of. Here's the thing that dawned on me the last time I saw something about autism on a blog somewhere:

You never hear of autism in other countries. While it probably does exist in small numbers here and there, it's virtually non-existent outside the US.

I find myself wondering whether the autism phenomenon is somehow being caused by US cultural factors: a society that promotes delayed pregnancies and dysfunctional mothering, a culture of social alienation (ever notice how many young people call everything "awkward", complain about being introverted and obsessive, and call friendlier people things like "creepers"?), extremely heavy dependency on technology, terrible food quality, rampant use of all kinds of prescription medications and illicit ones as well, a weird paranoid political culture that sort of filters out to other aspects of social interaction. Could it be that some mix of these factors is causing autism in the young generation in the US? After all- how many autism problems do you tend to see in warm, open societies like Portugal or Colombia? What about traditional locales like Poland and Russia? Nope. India? France? Nigeria? Israel? It's just not a problem worldwide. Not too many Ethiopian autistics out there, I imagine. Hell- even the other Anglo countries have comparably lower rates of the condition. You barely even hear of Aussie autistics, much less Guatemalan ones.

What do you think? Is autism a Made in USA invention?

(By the way, before the thread goes there: No, I don't believe in conspiracies about vaccines.)

[josephty1]

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[Taco]

[w.p.o.]

It's said to come from vaccines. Robert Deniro believes his child became autistic from a vaccination.

[GoingAwol]

The thing is..
We still don't know exactly what causes autism/asperger's. It could be anything...... Also, I think a lack of friends and relationships can cause people to take on autistic traits. I was diagnosed with asperger's around age 10 because I was quirky, a picky eater, and had some sensory issues. However, when I was a kid I was very gregarious, had lots of friends, and played sports. My mom moved us to a new town when I was 13 and I never really made new friends. Since then, I feel like I have become more aspergery because I have been rejected by women and haven't made any new friends.

[josephty1]

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[Shemp]

High functioning Apergers here. In the past, men like me would simply have been labeled late bloomers: awkward as teenagers, lose their virginity late, eventually develop good social skills. Many of these late bloomers were spectacularly successful in life, because they deployed their time and energy during the years of sexual drought to do something productive rather than chasing pooosy. You didn't have the bullying in high school that you have now, and women in their 20's didn't automatically reject a sexually inexperienced guy in his 30's, who had been awkward when he was young but had since overcome that awkwardness, and now had both a successful career and good social skills, and all he needed was done practice to be good in bed as well. Similar situation for autism, IMO. It's always been present, but didn't cause such problems in the past because society had places for these people. Since third world countries resemble the past of the USA, that's why they don't have such big problems with autism and aspergers.

[Eric]

Wow. That makes tremendous sense. I don't think I'm Aspergers, though I do think that I have had a tremendous difficulty adapting to the current USA environment - and I don't think I ever will to be honest with you. It's stopped the engine of my success, I'm really not motivated to do anything other than survive here, as materialism just does not drive me to live life successfully and build it.

I know, that's not an excuse just an explanation. A lot of people beat their head over with a stick trying to get them to drive forward, that's the only way it happens, here, I feel. Those successful ones are really shallow, materialistic and...often have the traits of a psychopath or sociopath. It's really become a(n) empty, cold, heartless society. I hate to sound depressing but looking at the facts. It is. I"ve never quite understood the attitude of money loving, though I've tried to. I think if I did get on that path I may, probably get a taste for it - then I"d get it.. But, as it is - that hasn't really happened yet. I haven't made it happen either. Once again it's hollow.
I'm naturally a very warm, and caring person. I thought those were always good and valuable, healthy natural traits- until...I spent time in America. I guess I have them deep down somewhere, maybe they've gone. I don't know how they survived this long by themselves. Anyways, going to China. Hopefully, things will get better.

[Wolfeye]

I don't think single mothering is exactly an issue like that- if the mother is off-kilter, that would be an issue (she isn't single because the man took off, he's dead, or that he's unsuitable- she's single because he's considered the enemy no matter how he treats her, because she wants to show off how much she can do, or she's basically a hooker pulling a long con & taking the guy's cash in the divorce along with the kid).

The social situation definitely seems to cause that. America doesn't have a whole lot of self-recrimination- they'd sooner believe that every person they talked to had bad hearing than believe that they're wrong about something (seems to possibly have been culturally inherited from England & Germany). Vaccines DO seem to be linked to it, but it doesn't seem to be the only avenue. Same with food- if someone were to eat whatever was under the sink & then developed problems, it wouldn't be a surprise & would be stated as an issue. If it's with something that's designated safe, despite being the same shit- there's some kind of of confusion. The belief seems to be that this couldn't be designated that way if it wasn't actually that way, because the people saying this wouldn't be certified & able to say it if they weren't right. Kind of a "Santa Claus Principle."

[gnosis]

Autism doesn't have anything to do with vaccines.

I think in the U.S. a lot of problem kids are labeled "autistic" because it makes the Moms feel better. Some "autistic" kids are obviously retarded but there is a lot of social stigma associated with mental retardation. "Autism" sounds nicer.

[Eric]

I think autism is an extreme form of "male-ness". If you think about it, the male brain works by singular focus. Autism is the extreme end of that. They are unable to focus on anything but what they are totally immersed in at the time. It's like being ultra - ultra male brained.

[Wolfeye]

Eric: I've heard something along those lines, but it seems females can also be autistic. The thing is, men aren't necessarily a "singular focus only" situation- there's plenty of capacity for simultaneity of action. Also, for soaking up more than one thing at a time- like noticing a smell at the same time as talking to someone while you're walking AND keeping your balance the whole time. Some people can hold a conversation while fighting someone else!

[josephty1]

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[snede]

There is a lot of hatred for autistic men in Western culture. It's sad. The engineers who put men on the moon were probably somewhere on the spectrum.

Yeah, it is being diagnosed a lot more these days. I think a lot of it is because of our feminized society. People with autism are typically very bad at reading social cues and a women centric culture requires everyone to pay attention to their feelz. Without learning appropriate compensating mechanisms, autistics are not able to function in modern society. These mechanisms aren't terribly difficult to develop, but they often require very consistent feedback and discipline, which women are terrible at doing. To put it bluntly, operant conditioning. Say that to most mothers and they will completely freak out.

As Temple Grandin said "People with autism learn social interactions the way normal people learn lines to a play".

[Citizen]

Look, the more a small amount of genetic information is replicated the more likely it is to develop errors or mutations that handicap the life form. Too many "people" being replicated over and over. Defects happen. Retards are just natures malfunctions (call Autistic people what you want I call them defective freaks). In the old days we would toss the freak into the pit. If it didn't fit in then it didn't belong. Only the strong survived. Now we have "share the wealth" governments and "a life for everyone" b*tches saving the worthless garbage and giving them lives. Once things fall apart I am sure the pit will return. Like the Japanese used to say, "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."