[larve]

There have been significant changes in diagnosis of autism in (overlapping categories): adults, women, people of color where the signs of autism were usually assigned to another diagnosis (anxiety, OCD, PTSD, bipolar, etc...).

I'm not a researcher so I can't really comment on the rest, but from all my friends (me included) who have finally realized that we were autistic in our 40ies and 50ies, what it's at least plausible that what looks like an epidemic is just people having a better understanding of the many forms in which autism manifest, beyond non-speaking white boy that likes trains.

I spent all that time thinking I couldn't be autistic because look I have friends and a job and I can sometimes do small talk.