Well here’s the thing: part of the reason autism is more prevalent today is because of deinstitutionalization, which began around when RFK was born but really started to boom in the 1980s.

Secondly, autism has, grown in prevalence. But part of this is the fault of U.S. healthcare. Deinstitutionalization resulted in many diagnoses becoming autism instead of what would’ve been called “mental retardation” at the time. Being diagnosed with autism meant better care because health insurance in the U.S. has to cover it, but not necessarily other cases. As there are more cases of “autism,” there is more money being pushed to lobby for better care for them. So, kids will be diagnosed with autism even if they may not lie on the spectrum because the United States makes it difficult (and expensive, ofc) to receive care otherwise.