Is autism overdiagnosed

Answer 1

Yes, it is heavily over-diagnosed. The fact is autism is not a disease. Contrary to what everyone else think, it must not be treated like a disease. We have treated children using unique methods and have had complete results. Completely back to normal, over time of course.

Many a time it happens a person/child is experiencing certain conditions but those which have no medical evidence of existing. It is wrong to categorize it generally.

Every autistic person needs his/her own approach and what worked for one doesn't likely work for another.

There is autism and there is clinical autism. The latter may be diagnosed and treated but not the former. It is more complex.

Answer 2

No, Autism is not over-diagnosed.

In fact Autism is under-diagnosed - it's very much under-diagnosed in females because we tend to present very differently and hide our symptoms well because of how we are socialized, it's also under-diagnosed in racial minorities such as African-Americans.

Consider too that in countries like the US there is no pathway to diagnosis - in the UK it is a legal requirement that a person can be diagnosed, in the US however many people cannot afford to be diagnosed. Within the US there is also a lot of stigma attached to Autism so many people will not be diagnosed in order to avoid that, also Autism is a preexisting condition so may impact on insurance costs too so another reason to avoid diagnosis. This is just in the US, but consider other countries where awareness and access to diagnosis is even more lacking than in the US.