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In June, one of the authors of the DSM 4 (which sets the criteria for diagnosing mental disorders) came out and said “oh yeah, the incredible spike in autism diagnoses is due to our changes in definition.” Why the APA/CDC didn’t scream this for the past 20 years is beyond me.

A screenshot of a New York Times webpage displaying an opinion guest essay. The title reads "Autism Rates Have Increased 60-Fold. I Played a Role in That." The byline credits Allen Frances. Additional visible text includes the date June 23, 2025, and options to listen, share, or save the article. A watermark from the New York Times is present.

Quote

Sonny Bunch

@SonnyBunch

Sep 17

The anti-vaccine movement in the United States is almost comically evil. Just remarkably stupid stuff that will lead to an increase in human suffering. Everyone who aided in putting RFK Jr in charge of the CDC should feel great shame. thebulwark.com/p/rfk-jr-kenne

5:37 AM · Sep 19, 2025

1.2M

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David Watson 🥑

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Imagine a world in which these conspiracies didn’t take hold and the most insidious people in the world didn’t reject the closest thing we have ever seen to miracles in this country at the highest levels of government.

Link:

Opinion | Autism Rates Have Increased 60-Fold. I Played a Role in That.

From nytimes.com

I have all these people in my mentions insisting they did scream it and lol. They either never ran a serious media campaign until 2016 or totally screwed it up. It was too late by then

Here’s a great example of the messaging from the CDC. In this article (from 2018! which is too late!), the researcher put forward by the CDC team to talk to the media about the rise in rates/new study, doesn’t lead with the definition change and hedges about it insanely.

0:25

$Text excerpt discussing autism diagnosis changes. Visible text includes "Also, the definition of autism has changed through the decades. 'Over the '80s and '90s, the diagnostic criteria expanded to include more children,' Christensen said, 'so I think that\'s definitely a possibility for the increase that we\'ve seen.'"$

@MattBGilliland

Erm... they *have* been saying this loudly for decades, though. It's the first response always given to Wakefield and post-Wakefield conspiracists. How could one possibly have missed this?

Rebecca V. Proud American

@AntiCommieBecca

The newest DSM is terrible! They totally redid the 5 axis diagnostic system & removed mental illnesses like Transgenderism but increased the criteria for other disorders. It’s becoming more politically influenced than scientifically influenced. It’s a travesty for mental

Maybe they shouldn’t make up complete BS definitions then. Psychiatry is not a serious science. It’s just vibes and fads all the way down.

Adejare (Jay) Atanda, DMD, DrPH, MPH

No idea what you mean by this since all the experts have been screaming this BUT also anyone that took an “intro to epidemiology” class, a pre-requisite for a MPH could have told you this. But sure, lay it at the APA/CDC’s feet like these folks wouldn’t immediately move the goal

Incredibly condescending answer that explains the massive failure

Derek Fine Allen

Of course a large percentage of autism diagnoses are bullshit. They've drugged a generation, decreasing IQ and making them numb

Supports my viewpoint that increasing autism rates is a good thing

Claire, aka Midwestern Hedgie

🏳️‍⚧️

this is fairly common knowledge. it's like, "why didn't they tell us CO2 is bad for climate?" or "why didn't they say vaccines are safe & effective?"

Everyone saying this in my mentions works in healthcare. Do you have self-awareness?

Singularitybooks

@Singularitybook

Everyone has been screaming about this but what about our lying eyes? And what about the fact that profound nonverbal autism has been increasing and diagnosis could play no role? What about the fact that it’s continuing even in recent years to increase even more?

Lots of people didn’t want to say this because they thought if they kept pretending things are way worse than they actually are, it would scare people into working on solutions or fixing the problem (but instead they just created a dangerous moral panic) Many such cases

Maybe instead of redefining autism it would have been better to come up with a new word or label so people aren’t confused about a diagnosis. This has been a chronic problem with the medical community, choosing to change definitions is extremely misleading to the public.

@Jeffrey28627067

I feel like they have been screaming this, but the public simply isn't buying it. For example, according to CDC data in 2015, 25-30% of autism cases met the criteria for level 3 - which would not have been diagnosed as other things.

It's fascinating how diagnostic criteria changes can dramatically shift prevalence statistics without actual disease rates changing.

Beatrice Pembroke

@BeatricePembro

The psych industry, in cahoots with the government, will show the biggest crime against humanity in 50 years. 90 percent of them couldn't diagnose a tree. They have no business prescribing meds or diagnosing autism like they do. As far as vaccines, no one is anti vaccine. Some of

Bob, Bob Cactaur

Never reveal your power level to a mental health professional, too much authority not enough wisdom, DSM is slop and therapy is yap.

🏳️‍🌈

But correlation ALWAYS equals causation! Swimming pool deaths increase after Nicholas Cage releases a movie, so Nicholas Cage causes swimming pool deaths! Ignore the fact that Nicholas Cage movies release near the START of summer.

It’s so weird when people come argue weird shit totally off topic in my mentions

It cannot only be due to expanded diagnostic criteria (definition) - in 1989-ish- and additional benefits (school IOP/assistance) shortly after. Significant rises in autism dx continued even from 2010 - 2020 and beyond.

@audrawrongspeak

Wow. So this “explosion” is his fault. Interesting.

Aly Sebastian Author

ASD used to be lumped in with schizophreniform disorders and confused with other developmental differences.

Andrew No Time to Aspire 2: The ReThinking

@ThinkerAspiring

I talk about this on social media all the time, I even name drop this guy. But I don't get a ton of engagement because it isn't a useful or exciting narrative.

@cremieuxrecueil

discusses this in much more rigorous detail than I do.

What is the line between severe autism ( can not survive without assistance ) and spectrum disorders? Has the severe autism rate changed?

lil math goblin

@magicalpotato3

I have no connection to healthcare and yet I’ve heard multiple times that increasing autism rates were driven by changes in definition and detection. This has been the standard scientific response to anti-vax aut trend claims. I think you were just out of the loop on this one.

I been saying this for 5 years at least and

s reccomend mediation on a system meant to generate capital off my pain and a bad society

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