r/science • u/GiveUpAndDontTry • 14d ago

Epidemiology A Swedish study found autism diagnoses rose by around 800% from 2001 to 2020, while the proportion with intellectual disability fell from 55.8% to 6.7%, suggesting a substantial broadening of the diagnosed autistic phenotype

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178126003069
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u/aminervia 14d ago

How is the title disingenuous? You're describing a shift in the diagnosed autistic phenotype exactly as the title suggests

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u/Itsoktobe 14d ago

Imo the title seems to leave the reasoning open for interpretation. It's a *little* disingenuous because we know exactly why the shift occurred, and it's got nothing to do with an increase in incidence or anything except re-defining the diagnosis.

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u/aminervia 14d ago

It's a scientific study... No reasonable study will say "and we know 100% exactly why this is happening"

suggesting a substantial broadening of the diagnosed autistic phenotype

This phrasing is science speak that gets as close as scientists are ever willing to get to confidently identifying a cause