Is the rise in numbers per birth legitimate or is a percentage due to attrition?

Autism has gained an enormous amount of press over the past few years, thanks to advocates such as Jenny McCarthy, Doug Flute, and several other celebrities with children living with this neurological disorder.

Within the last 30 or so years the numbers seem to have risen dramatically, from documented statistics of 1 in 10,000 births to the more recent figures of 1 in 150 births and the disorder seems to have been relegated to a “spectrum” disorder, perhaps making it more palatable for individuals to tolerate the large jump in numbers per birth.

Autism is defined as a condition disturbing perceptions and relationships.

A disturbance in psychological development in which use of language, reaction to stimuli, interpretation of the world, and the formation of relationships are not fully established and follow unusual patterns(Encarta Dictionary: English/ North America).

While it is safe to say that there are many opinions as to the cause of this disorder, there is little proof of the origin. The battle cry in recent times is that preservatives such as mercury in childhood vaccines somehow causes a neurological trigger, or that too many vaccines are being given at one time, too young to infants and toddlers, and let’s not forget genetics.

Let’s consider for a moment the rise in the numbers of persons on the “spectrum”.

What else has been around and developed over the past thirty years?

Technological advances, specifically computer technology.

Everything from personal home computers to computer games to online services, such as banking, shopping, even working from home.  

One does not need to speak to or engage on any level with another living soul, if  so desired. If we do not use our inherent human skills of communication, cultural and physical bonding rituals, as with other skill sets throughout evolution, we run the risk to attritionoff the use of that skill. In this case perhaps the use of the part of the brain that assists us to use certain skills, such as verbal and relationship interaction.

Think about it. We do not even have to speak to anyone at the local grocery store or home improvement warehouse, or the bank. We simply swipe a card through a device and there you have it…No communication necessary!

Imagine never having to speak a single syllable to another human being.  Where would this silent, singular behavior eventually lead?

Children as young as 2 years of age are learning to use this technology and no one seems to have connected the dots?

It appears elementary to me that if one does not use a skill one loses the skill.

I feel comfortable making these comparisons because I am the parent of a person living with autism. And for the record my child reached all the normal milestones of infant development, up and until she received her second battery of vaccines, at the age of 6 months.

A case for the vaccine?  Not quite, there are many like individuals within my family tree that display similar behaviors. A case for genetics? Again, not quite, there are many  members of my family that have these behaviors that do not have children on the “spectrum”.

The one common denominator in recent times is the use of a singular technology.

What will be the cost of a generation of flesh and blood humans having been taught to relate to inanimate objects in this age of virtual reality? Eventually with each succession the need to relate will eventually be plucked from our brain. 

So I ask you. Is the increase in numbers really a true reflection of a disorder on the rise? Or are we as a society attritioning off a part of our brain and then being thrown into the proverbial pot of a wide and varied so called autism spectrum disorder?