> the increased awareness and access to medical professionals could also explain an upward trend in diagnosis. I don't see how any other hypothesis can even be

> the increased awareness and access to medical professionals could also explain an upward trend in diagnosis. I don't see how any other hypothesis can even be considered until this is controlled for. How many people diagnosed as autistic today would have, had they lived in the past, been considered as having mental illness or intellectual disability? Would those who are high-functioning even be diagnosed as having anything at all, or just thought of as eccentric or a little touched?