[Nov3]

The gene has been here forever. Something else has changed. The frankenfats and incessant massive carbohydrate intake has something to do with it. We have our eyes on the front of our head for a reason. We have to be able to tell how far away the animal we are getting ready to eat is.

[krodriguesdc]

The gene has been here forever. Something else has changed.

that is correct...

if this gene and this gene alone was responsible we would have had a problem with autism all along...

[discostu]

The biggest change has been to the definition of autism, it's got a much broader scope than it ever has before. When there's a longer list of symptoms and the severity necessary is lessoned you will naturally see an increase in the number of diagnosese. If suddenly they decided every sniffle was the flu you'd see massive flu epidemics. Currently just about every kind of mental aberation that isn't ADHD (which has also seen a huge expansion of diagnosis), retardation or insanity is classified autism.

[js1138]

Something else has changed.

What has changed is that people with similar dispositions are finding each other and marrying, particularly in Silicon Valley, where the greatest percentage increase has occurred.