Home › Forums › Autism Research › When did autism start to become high profile or well known through the media? › Re: Re: When did autism start to become high profile or well known through the media?
AnonymousI believe there has been a spike in the focus on autism, even though there was focus on the issue throughout the 90's. I believe the answer is four-fold: Firstly, I personally believe autism rates have been increasing (in addition the increases due to changes in dignostic criteria).Secondly, the changes in diagnostic criteria mean that more people are falling under the banner of ASD and the more common the disorder is, the more the media focus on it.Thirdly, in recent years focus has been brought on this issue by a famous person (Jenny McCarthy). Who, whilst causing some controversy, she also explained the disorder to the wider public.Fourthly, Andrew Wakefiled's result tampering added controversy, which of course adds more media focus.
