One hypothesis is that part of the increase in autism is the result of geniuses marrying other geniuses.
Let’s say someone lived in the 1800’s and were smarter than 99.99 percent of the population. Out of a randomly selected group of 10,000 people, they were the brightest. Now, in all likelihood, their social circle wouldn’t be 10,000 people. They would know the 1,000 people in their town or neighborhood. Odds are they would not marry someone as smart as themselves.
Now, a person that smart would leave their community and go on to graduate school or some high-tech field. They would meet someone as smart as themselves. The two people with great brainpower might share a lot of the same gene mutations. The offspring might start getting two pairs of recessive genes that are harmless alone but harmful together.
It’s just a theory. There is an increased amount of autism in Silicon Valley and the Route 128 corridor in Boston. It may be because high-income people are more likely to get a diagnosis. Or perhaps the “geniuses marrying geniuses” hypothesis has some validity.
While my husband and I are fairly educated (some college), we are by no means “geniuses.” At least not the hubby. lol ;-)
So weird- I have relatives in the Boston corridor area and of their two children, one is certainly autistic but parents are in great denial...however, they are using massive social services rendered by MA and certainly understand the differences in the development of their children.
A lot of geniuses have undiagnosed Aspergers as that generation did not get labels...just were VERY focused on a subject and were seen as genius in their field.