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Why are rates of Autism diagnosis increasing?

At Spectrum, we love this graphic from Pete Wharmby, Autistic Author https://www.facebook.com/Petewharmbyauthor because it shows exactly what we see every day too! In his post on social media, Pete describes his graphic, ‘my simple (and very precise and professional) graph illustrates why it may appear that lots of folks are getting diagnosed as neurodivergent at the moment...’


The number of neurodivergent people out there has not changed, it’s just that as awareness increases and the diagnostic process improves, more and more individuals are seeking out and receiving a diagnosis of Autism. From our perspective, we see a lot of young people who are ‘social maskers’ who have been getting by and getting on with their lives without schools and settings recognising their needs. Previously, this group would either have been misidentified with a mental health need such as anxiety or depression or they would have continued on through their lives without a clear explanation for the differences they experienced. We hope that through a clinically thorough yet neuro-affirmative diagnostic process (as we provide here at Spectrum), a diagnosis of Autism can help children and young people to finally become their true, authentic selves and move forward with their lives in a positive and confident manner. 

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