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Guardian article on alleged over-diagnosis at the weekend

RocketScientist

Apologies if this has already been discussed (I looked, but couldn't find it).

I read this article in Saturday's Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/nov/01/the-term-is-becoming-unrecognisable-have-the-experts-who-believed-in-a-single-autism-spectrum-changed-their-minds

I understand the arguments, and I know that, as awareness is raised and more people come forwards, more people will be diagnosed, and the recent report confirms this. That's not what I'm posting about.

The article raises an interesting (to me) point about the 2013 DSM5, ASD as an umbrella term and the absorption of Asperger's. Baron Cohen seems to regret this, and hints that this might be responsible for some of the current faux outrage / culture war posturing. I think his off-the-cuff solution was to have new sub-types of ASD, effectively reinstating Asperger's with a more politically-correct name. Doing this might separate higher-needs from the so-called "lifestyle", "high-functioning" and lower-needs children and adults, who, I suspect, are (perceived as?) the faster growing demographic and bone of contention for the easily-offended and old-school psychologists.

I personally don't have an opinion one way or the other—I'm just the messenger here. The terms in quotes are not my words, but things in popular use (rightly or wrongly). I just wondered what people here thought about this?

[Disclaimer: I self-diagnosed a year ago and would put myself firmly in the latter category. I have a bit of Imposter Syndrome when I read about the problems other people have to live with, and I think my problems are trivial by comparison. My (self-)diagnosis helps me to understand the past more and better cope with the future, and I wouldn't want to waste the NHS's time with an official diagnosis, as I am pretty much retired. What started me thinking about this was a discussion with a friend who was diagnosed with "Asperger's" 20 years ago. I have since read into Asperger's, and I wonder if Baron Cohen is onto something.]

Parents

  • I read article too and quite like the idea of sub types, it would be interesting to see how my autism and dyslexia intersect, especially as I really struggle with sequenses. More tailored support would be really good.

    Another part of the article was interviewing Uta Frith and there was a very telling comment she made, that "it [autism] was never meant to get so big", she thought it would be a small number of the most profoundly affected who were diagnosed and dosen't like the way that diagnosis has been widened to included people with lower support needs. She did the majority of her work in the 1960's and I wonder if she's stuck in a 1960's mindset, thats class ridden, patronising and believing that us ordinary mortals shouldn't question medical authority.

    It's sad a bit like having to tell your Gran, 'you cant say things like that anymore' when they come out with some awful "ism", but luckily for us, other's are moving things along and more and more of us are being recognised and will continue to be so.

  • in reply to TheCatWoman
    TheCatWoman said:
    "it [autism] was never meant to get so big"

    That's a meaningless sentence. Taking RocketScientist's comment, it's like saying "cancer was never meant to get so big." Meant implies a decision by a person. I can imagine someone yelping in a lab "Oh no! We've gone over the limit! Tell everyone to stop recognising autism NOW!" It implies that medical science shouldn't make new discoveries in case it offends people.

  • in reply to Alexa

    I agree Alexa, I thought it was a ridiculous statement, I mean what if Edward Jenner (inventor of the smallpox vaccine), came along and said, I never meant everyone to be vaccinated against so many illnesses! Almost everyone would tell him to go and do one, but I guess thats the difference, people can see measles, diptheria and tetanus, and I'm sure like me, you remember every school or even class having kids in calipers from polio. But because ND isn't visable, it somehow dosen't count. I think she meant that only the most severly affected should be diagnosed as Autistic and everyone else with someting else like Aspergers, but things move on. We have much more nuanced diagnostic tools now than she did in the 1960's and I'm glad that for the most part the nuance has grown, but there will always be naysayers to whatever problems there are. I often wonder if in the years after Newton "discovered" gravity, if there weren't older people saying 'we didn't have gravity in my day' in a tone they think should end all discussion and argument?

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  • in reply to Alexa

    I agree Alexa, I thought it was a ridiculous statement, I mean what if Edward Jenner (inventor of the smallpox vaccine), came along and said, I never meant everyone to be vaccinated against so many illnesses! Almost everyone would tell him to go and do one, but I guess thats the difference, people can see measles, diptheria and tetanus, and I'm sure like me, you remember every school or even class having kids in calipers from polio. But because ND isn't visable, it somehow dosen't count. I think she meant that only the most severly affected should be diagnosed as Autistic and everyone else with someting else like Aspergers, but things move on. We have much more nuanced diagnostic tools now than she did in the 1960's and I'm glad that for the most part the nuance has grown, but there will always be naysayers to whatever problems there are. I often wonder if in the years after Newton "discovered" gravity, if there weren't older people saying 'we didn't have gravity in my day' in a tone they think should end all discussion and argument?

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