The Autism Mountain
The so-called autism epidemic has been sold to the public as an unprecedented surge in children afflicted with a mysterious condition. In reality, it is an epidemic created by psychiatry itself. The numbers rose not because millions of children suddenly lost the ability to function in society, but because diagnostic boundaries were quietly expanded. Dr Allen Frances, the psychiatrist who chaired the DSM-IV task force, has been unusually candid. He later said his “biggest DSM-IV regret” was that “our broadening the autism definition … led to such massive, careless over-diagnosis” (Allen Frances, Twitter, April 2023). In another interview he admitted he was “very sorry for helping to lower the diagnosis bar” (New York Post, April 24 2023). When the architect of the system admits diagnostic inflation—not hidden disease—is to blame, the foundations of the narrative begin to collapse. Families have been trapped in this narrative for decades. They were not villains. They were misled. A ...