This thread talks about autism in history and explains why autism wasn’t diagnosed in the past. It starts by answering a common question people ask in regards to there being more autism diagnoses now than in the past. The question is, “If autism isn’t caused by environmental factors and is natural why didn’t we ever see it in the past?”. The answer is harsh, but very true. This thread also then goes into “the myth of the changeling child”:
(via: Geek Girls)
The comment by “Neddythestylish” where they mention “when you make more people disabled….” It would be wise to take in to account that we are in fact making more people, so the ratio of people with certain conditions may not be increasing, but the actual numbers of individuals, and the ability to see, and recognise the conditions, is most certainly increasing. For much of the Middle Ages, and also for much of the time before 1900, the infant mortality rate was between 20% and 50%. So not only are we producing more humans, they are more likely to survive. I think we really need to see a program that recognises these people, not as disabled so much, but handicapped by a social structure (both mental and physical) that doesn’t take in to account their abilities.