I'm really disgusted by the lack of compassion in all the anti-vaccination threads

[Douglas Carpenter]

147. I feel sorry for all the parents who have been falsely led to believe that vaccinations caused their

children's autism. They are no doubt a vulnerable population who can easily be manipulated.

Until the 1990's very few people even in the world of psychology or psychiatry knew anything about Autism. Most severely autistic children were diagnosed with either childhood schizophrenia or mental retardation. The most common sited cause was "refrigerator mothers." It was orthodoxy back in the dark ages of the 50's and 60's to believe autism or as it was commonly known Childhood Schizophrenia was caused by emotionally distant mothers. But most classically autistic children were simply presumed to be simply mentally retarded and they end up in such programs. It was only in the early 90's that psychiatry and neurology came to recognize the more mild forms of Autism sometimes called High Function Autism or Asperger's Syndrome. This growth of knowledge resulted in an awareness that a much higher percentage of the population than previously was imagined have some form of Autism.

So the most likely explanation for the massively increased numbers of people with an Autism diagnoses is simply increased awareness and increased understanding of what Autism is from its mild forms to its most severely debilitating forms.

Under the DSM-5 the American Psychiatric Association guidelines for diagnoses - they now define Autism Spectrum Disorder from Level 0 to Level 3. Level 0 indicates someone with Autism characteristics but is not impaired and is in no need of any special support. Level 1 indicates someone who meets the Autism Spectrum Criteria and suffers some impairment and is in need of some support. Level 2 Indicates someone who quite profoundly meets the Autism Spectrum Disorder Criteria and is in need of substantial support. Level 3 - Indicates someone who is profoundly impaired by their autism and is in need of very substantial support.

Here is a more detailed PDF file on the matter:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CCkQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.psychiatry.org%2FFile%2520Library%2FPractice%2FDSM%2FDSM-5%2FClinicianRatedSeverityOfAutismSpectrumAndSocialCommunicationDisorders.pdf&ei=YrxxVIzVONS1oQS-p4DIAQ&usg=AFQjCNG8tm7imUhaLlmY5UVt8YNr-N2YNw&sig2=Yuql_5qyhgWl5pWcZFwyGw&bvm=bv.80185997,d.cGU