Why do we only see younger children with Autism?

[beetlemilk]

Because the adults with autism that are medium to high functioning have learned how to blend into society. I have been to autism conferences where the speakers were autistic, one of them was Stephen Shore. If you were sitting in a restaurant next to any of them you would not notice. Observing them, you did not notice, until someone put them on the spot with a question they weren't ready for. Someone asked this question while we were there. The answer was and all agreed that as children you aren't aware of social norms for say stimming by flapping the arms. All admitted they still stim, but in public choose a more socially appropriate stim like tapping the feet or drumming the hands. All said that at home they do arm flap, wring hands, screech, and do a lot of rocking. More are dx now, there are several reasons for this. Dx is broader, the spectrum growing, less are misdx with something else, awareness is higher, there are more environmental toxins and pollutants now that many feel are at least partially causal, among others including a better understanding of genetic predisposition.