A Parent Told Me 'Everyone Seems To Have Autism These Days' – Here's What I Want Them To Know

For the ‘millionth’ time a parent said to me today: “Everyone seems to have autism these days”. It wasn’t the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last.I understood their concern. When you hear about diagnosis rates increasing dramatically – one study points to a 787% increase in autism diagnoses between 1998 and 2018 – it’s natural to wonder if we’ve swung too far in the other direction. But this perspective reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what we’re actually witnessing.We’re not seeing an epidemic of neurodivergence. We’re witnessing the correction of decades of systematic oversight. For generations, our diagnostic criteria were built around a narrow template that captured only the most obvious presentations, typically in boys. We systematically missed girls who internalised and masked their differences, adults who developed sophisticated coping mechanisms, and anyone whose symptoms didn’t match the textbook examples from the 1980s.My friend Sarah was diagnosed with autism aged 37 after her daughter’s autism assessment. She’d spent decades thinking she was “sensitive”, “didn’t like big groups” and was even “antisocial”. She had friends, a good career, but everything required enormous effort and left her exhausted. Her childhood special interest in space was praised as academic brilliance. Her need for routine was seen as being “organised”. Her differences were invisible because she’d learned to mask them so perfectly.And she’s not alone. Sid, who owns the café opposite me, was recently diagnosed with ADHD at 56. As a child, he wasn’t hyperactive in the classic sense. He was the daydreamer, the “underachiever”, the “classroom clown”, the one whose potential was always just out of reach. His inattention was dismissed as laziness rather than recognised as a neurological difference requiring specific support strategies.These aren’t new cases of autism or ADHD. These are people who have always been neurodivergent but lacked the framework to understand themselves. The apparent surge in diagnoses reflects our evolving understanding of how these conditions manifest across different populations, ages, and presentations.Critics worry about diagnostic inflation, but this concern often misses the point. A meaningful diagnosis isn’t about assigning labels. It’s about providing understanding and opening doors to appropriate support. When someone finally comprehends why traditional strategies never worked for them, why they’ve always felt different, or why they need specific accommodations, they’re not being harmed by recognition, they’re being empowered by knowledge. They can now learn to understand themselves better.The parent who told me, “Everyone seems to have autism these days” was expressing a natural human tendency to notice patterns. But what they’re noticing isn’t an epidemic. It’s visibility. People who once suffered in silence now have language for their experiences and pathways to support.Rather than questioning whether too many people are being recognised as neurodivergent, we should celebrate that fewer people are being overlooked.That’s not overdiagnosis. That’s progress.Nicola Lathey is founder of The Owl Centre – a national autism and ADHD assessment centre for children and adults.Related...Waiting Endlessly For ADHD Or Autism Assessment? 'Right To Choose' May Get You Seen SoonerAutism Assessor Reveals 3 Of The 'Most Common' Signs Of Autism In GirlsI'm An Autism Assessor – 5 Signs You May Have Been Undiagnosed For Decades

Comments

Breaking news

Donald Trump’s attorney general will ‘reach out to’ Ghislaine Maxwell over Epstein files

Metro

Comments

Breaking news

Donald Trump’s attorney general will ‘reach out to’ Ghislaine Maxwell over Epstein files

Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin reveals unlikely inspiration behind pub chain

Why was an innocent electrician shot and killed by police ‘in cold blood’?

William and Kate share adorable new video of George, Charlotte and Louis

Tory Who Used Racist Slur About Chinese People Defects To Reform UK

7 Surprising Recipes That Start With A Pack Of French Onion Soup

11 Signs You're Struggling With 'Boreout' At Work

4 Ways Therapists Say People With Anxiety Get Stuck – And How To Get Unstuck

70 years on and Stalin’s ‘gifted’ skyscraper still looms over this Polish city

Rachel Reeves under pressure as UK borrowing higher than forecast in June thanks to soaring debt interest costs

US says it's leaving UN cultural agency UNESCO again, only 2 years after rejoining

Venice Film Festival lineup features Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Emma Stone and Dwayne Johnson

Coca-Cola reports weakening global sales volumes in second quarter

House Speaker Mike Johnson backtracks on his push for Epstein files release saying Trump needs ‘space’

Ibiza Rocks cancels all events after two British men die at resort in a fortnight

Trump to pull America out of UNESCO once again

Israeli strikes kill at least 20 in Gaza, health officials say

GM quarterly profit slumps 35%, but it sticks by full year outlook that was lowered in May

Trump claims he never ‘wrote a picture.’ His sketchy Epstein lie has now been exposed

Water industry may be added to list of sensitive business sectors, says minister

‘Devastating’ toxic algal bloom declared natural disaster in Australia amid warnings Bondi beach could be next

Bank of England chief says ‘not sensible’ to tear up ring-fencing rules

The Weeknd and Shakira will headline Global Citizen Festival supporting energy access and the Amazon

Vermont engineer revives pay phones for free calls in areas with poor cell service

Photos show Palestinian suffering as Israeli troops push deeper into central Gaza

Fugitive Moldovan oligarch implicated in $1 billion bank fraud detained in Greece

Prince William and Harry’s cousin found dead at her family home

Moment ‘tornado’ swirls over UK village caught on camera

Annuals are the forgotten native plants. Here are 7 worth adding to the garden

Husband who stabbed wife to death as she pushed their baby in pram jailed for 28 years

Thousands of homes at risk of damp and mould over botched insulation, government confirms

DOJ officials to meet with Ghislaine Maxwell on Epstein case to ask ‘what do you know?’

No households fined for breaking hosepipe bans during recent droughts, water firms admit

Compass takes further slice of European catering market with £1.3bn takeover

Initial probe into South Korea’s Jeju Air crash hints at pilot error, angering families

‘Twinned with Epstein Island’ sign appears on Trump golf course ahead of Scotland visit

Husband who stabbed estranged wife in street as she pushed their baby in pram jailed for 28 years

Does anyone know anything at all about the Tories in the shadow cabinet? Try our quiz

James Cleverly Is Returning To The Tory Frontbench. That Spells Trouble For Kemi Badenoch

Fake 'Lafufus' Are Flooding The Labubu Market – Here's How To Spot One

Succession Star Went Vegan On Day 2 Of Filming This '90s Classic

Major supermarket super-sizes packs of one summer fruit as heatwaves boost crops

Mike Lynch’s estate ordered to pay HP £700m in High Court ruling

Air India says no issues in locking mechanism of fuel control switches in Boeing fleet

Two types of tuna recalled over listeria contamination fears

Afghans ‘at risk of being radicalised in the UK’ as Home Office urged to investigate threat

Hunter Biden says his father was on Ambien before 2024 debate disaster: ‘A deer in headlights’

Monthly rents rise £221 over three years – here’s how much they’ve gone up in your area

Flash floods kill 3 tourists and leave 15 missing in northern Pakistan

Trump accused of ‘running scared’ over Epstein files as he peddles Obama-Russia ‘hoax’: Live

Tony Blair government lobbied by Australia not to meet Indigenous ‘troublemakers’, archives reveal

Teenage boy mauled to death by crocodiles while on walk with family in Mexico

McDowell County, West Virginia, birthplace of food stamps, faces a disappearing safety net

MLK Jr’s daughter tells Trump ‘now do the Epstein files’ after 230,000 pages released on civil rights leader

Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s uplifting final message in last Instagram video before his death

Boots shoppers say this £10 'firming' cream is an 'alternative to Botox'

Tremendous teamwork as football festival at Jak's former school in West Lothian rounds off term

Perth fire service cuts could put lives at risk, union warns

Three men arrested under Terrorism Act after Scottish Parliament protest

Trump bans Wall Street Journal from Scotland visit after Epstein birthday card claims