Understanding Autism: A Journey Through History, Science, and Society

What the rising autism prevalence rates tell us about how our understanding and acceptance of autism.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Mom says I was fourteen months old and still wasn’t walking. She took me to the pediatrician for a check-up because she was concerned I wasn’t walking when others my age were. She said the pediatrician wasn’t concerned. He explained to her that I was meeting all my other developmental milestones. I just needed more time.

“He said you didn’t have autism, which hardly anyone then knew about,” she said. It was the early 1980s, in Mexico. Like in other parts of the world, kids with developmental delays were a source of embarrassment. (Sadly, they still are.) Worse yet, they were often a source of fear for their parents. After all, having a child with special needs when living in a resource-deficient part of the world means something different than in a place with plenty of support and resources.

My parents’ fears about my development were put to rest soon enough. I started walking, playing with other kids, expanding my vocabulary, etc. Unfortunately, other kids whose brains were different from mine were not lucky enough to have the support and understanding needed not to be feared and hidden from the world. To…