USA psychology, 1970s vs today

I read something the other day that said something like 1 in 44 children today is somewhere "on the spectrum". Considering most children go through childhood never talking to a psychologist, it seems the diagnosis rate must be very high. Yikes Some folks like to blame childhood vaccines. As a person who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, things seem quite different to me in the world of psychology.

1970s: "My child is shy." 2020s: Autism
1970s: "My child is a picky eater." 2020s: Autism
1970s: "My child s really into his hobbies." 2020s: Autism
1970s: "My child is brilliant." 2020s: Autism
1970s: "My child lags academically." 2020s: Autism
1970s: "My child is hyper sometimes." 2020s: Autism
1970s: "I can't get my child away from her books." 2020s: Autism

Am I right? I get the feeling that any parent who brings their child into a psychologist today with any kind of issue is likely to walk out with an ASD diagnosis. My guess is that insurance is behind this, as an ASD diagnosis requires an insurance company to pay for services and gives the parents greater access to public services. A benefit to the parents, for sure, but are we really serving children well if we are slapping a diagnosis on 1 in every 44 kids?

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Gloomy · F

You are very wrong and you even conflate Autism with ADHD which people keep saying is being diagnosed increasingly but even that is a false perception.

trollslayer · 46-50, M

@Gloomy I may be, and that is intentional. in the 90s and 2000s ADHD diagnoses seemed more prevalent, and now it seems the shift is toward ASD.

My question is at what rate of occurrence does one say something is either over diagnosed or the criteria are too broad? If it gets to where 1 in 25 has a particular psychological condition, is it really a condition anymore, or just a variation of the normal?

basilfawlty89 · 31-35, M

@trollslayer you are conflating the two.
I have ADHD inattentive variety, it differs markedly from autism. My best friend is on the spectrum. There are similarities, but there's also huge differences between us. I have horrible executive functioning, he is hyper-organized.