I don't think autism is caused by behaviour issues or lack of attention/guidance from parents.

Last time in my school, I had friends who were 100% neglected by their parents, just send to school, feed and cloth them, that's all.

but still their minds can learn.

I believe autism is caused by children brain not growing to normal, its very subtle, can't be seen. MRI can't detect in baby, toddlers until later on. Very subtle changes in the slow growth of certain parts in an autistic child, those severe non verbal cases.

For eg, in my office alone, I have a staff with 8 kids, 2 of his kids are autistic, another colleague from another dept he has 3 kids, 1 of his kid is autistic and then another colleague at another department, she has 3 kids, third one is autistic (non audible), then another colleague has 3 kids, 3rd one also autistic (non audible).

I went to a class reunion, we agreed to set up a few tables, 3 for adults and 2 for kids. during the party, the adults will rotate to the kids table to help take care of the kids, I found out of the 2 tables sitting, 2 kids are autistic.

Then 7 years ago, I befriended a friend, in the course of my volunteer work, who is also autistic, he is about 24yo. He can speak, a very nice guy, he can speak, except he is very naive...sometimes I am afraid that he may kena scam, he so easily trust people. And when he speaks he keeps repeating stuff, I am ok with that. Fortunately there is a co, that is helpful and hired him to do simple work.

I don't really have the stats in Msia, just a discussion with you guys.

I don't know if you all feel the same way, but unlike my youth days I didn't meet a lot of people having autism issue until present day. Some may say it was due to awareness and education from internet and social media to help us know how an autistic person is like.

However, thinking back, I didn't really meet a lot of people who have autism.

But these days it appears to be more prevalent than before. I mean autistic kids, I love them, they are nice and cute, sometimes I volunteer to help out with the kids.

On the other hand, I felt a sense of concern because I notice how these kids are going to fit in the working life. I do try my best to help but I think today there are more and more of kids being diagnosed with autism than before.

For eg, in my office alone, I have a staff with 8 kids, 2 of his kids are autistic, another colleague from another dept he has 3 kids, 1 of his kid is autistic and then another colleague at another department, she has 3 kids, third one is autistic (non audible), then another colleague has 3 kids, 3rd one also autistic (non audible).

I went to a class reunion, we agreed to set up a few tables, 3 for adults and 2 for kids. during the party, the adults will rotate to the kids table to help take care of the kids, I found out of the 2 tables sitting, 2 kids are autistic.

Then 7 years ago, I befriended a friend, in the course of my volunteer work, who is also autistic, he is about 24yo. He can speak, a very nice guy, he can speak, except he is very naive...sometimes I am afraid that he may kena scam, he so easily trust people. And when he speaks he keeps repeating stuff, I am ok with that. Fortunately there is a co, that is helpful and hired him to do simple work.

So it all boils down to this: WHAT IS HAPPENING TODAY?

Is it because of more awareness level, that more people are diagnosed with autism than 15 years ago?
Or is it because of pollution, the processed food we eat, microplastic issue absorb by the human body, the environment that is causing more autism cases? Of course to date scientist is unable to proof this, but its very concerning that more cases are out today.

I known some close friends who are spending 3k per month on special education for their kids, its become a significant financial spending for families.

There is no cure, there is no way one can detect autism in the womb. Some only find out when they notice the kid is not talking up to 2-3yo, depending on the severity of the autism spectrum.

one of my kid has development issue so ayam sending him to EIP..

really good business that center.. got alot of kids with autism..

ayam oso seeing a education counselor for kids.. good business mang.. appointment need book 2 months in advance... and need pay deposit upfront and if u no show.. deposit burnt

personally, i think awareness and detection is better now.. plus parents not hiding it anymore...

what is EIP ?

How much per month?

Early Intervention Program.. it is for kids with developmental issues..
the center can offer customized therapy for individual needs of the kid

penang around RM2.5k/month for full day.. depending on the therapy u need..

In addition to increased awareness, is the increased labelling and assignment of "developmental disorders". "Slow" children gets labelled something. There must be a reason why they are "slow".

The IQ spectrum follows a basically Gaussian curve. There is going to be the bottom 10% with intellectual impairment. In the past they are just called "stupid". Now that is not acceptable and new labels need to be found and used. Nobody exist in the B10 anymore. They are somewhere higher if not for a developmental disorder.

yeah like ADHD and dyslexia.

but I am just not saying about certification or diagnosis.

I am talking about noticing more and more kids with these tendencies - like non verbal, tend to do certain things repetitiously, too overfocus on objects, anti social, throws abnormal outburst tantrums over something small or non noticeable. Its hard to explain but you can notice something peculiar and tell tale signs of autism.

its getting more prevalent in these modern times.

Even some of my friends who are expecting, actually praying for their baby to be healthy, because they are seeing more n more autism problem coming out.

I don't understand the point of this thread. are you actively seeking confirmation to your observation  and dismissing replies that doesn't reflect that?

I just want to hear people feedback, are they feeling that they are encountering more Autism cases?

I just got to suspect may be due to more pollution, diet, micro plastic that is affecting our modern day health.

could it be DNA damage?

that's the point of this thread.

i got 1 non-verbal seizure prone autistic brother. he's on his late 20s.

most likely im going to take care of him till the day i die or vice versa.

its pointless for me to think about how this happened.

but i think the rise of internet plays a large part regarding the awareness.

the advancement of medical science is increasing the life expectancy of population.

as such, population increase. with more people around, maybe the risk of mutation increase?

i dont know, i dont have energy to care.

im just focusing on giving the best life to my younger brother.

current or future government better not pulling the subsidy of the meds.

ill burn the world if i have to.

It's now called ASD....autism spectrum disorder. As in any spectrum, you can have very mild cases (used to be called Asperger's) to the full blown autistic.

Is it more common? Probably no. Increased awareness makes it seem so.

Plus in the past, families just hide them at home.

one of my kid has development issue so ayam sending him to EIP..

really good business that center.. got alot of kids with autism..

ayam oso seeing a education counselor for kids.. good business mang.. appointment need book 2 months in advance... and need pay deposit upfront and if u no show.. deposit burnt

personally, i think awareness and detection is better now.. plus parents not hiding it anymore...

Bro, can he communicate now? MT child is secondary school. Cant communicate get.

Close friends who got married total up got 6 of us. 3 of them got autistic kids. Incident rate 50%. It's crazy

I think back then the amount of autistic also same. Just they wont be so severe because lack of screen time. And got huge amount of human interaction to force the conformity. Imagine siblings banyak, out of 4 ekor only 1 autistic. The other 3 will have some way to pressure the autistic one to be more normal.

From what i observe. those non functional autism is solely due to lack of guide from the surrounding peers. Those with parents heavily involved and well informed in regards to autism, those who do early intervention from age 2 onwards have much better outcome than those that sit back and pray the kids are just in the phase, they WANT to believe they can outgrow the autism. End up by age 7 only they start to accept their kids are autistics.

Lack of awareness. Many still don't understand what autism is, including me, until my girlfriend asked me to read the symptoms because I have difficulty dealing with someone with mild autism in my workplace, and I thought it was a strange behavior he was having, until I learned he actually has autism. 

We can read about autism behavior on Google because international awareness has made it more common. It's unfortunate that Malaysia hasn't made significant efforts to diagnose autism. 

Some symptoms seem like normal behaviour of an anti-social person. So im still confused.