22/08/2025
“Why are so many kids autistic now?” 🤔
Must be the vaccines. Or the tablets. Or Cocomelon. Or whatever TikTok told you to panic about today.
Nah, babe. What’s really wild is how y’all act like autism just popped up outta nowhere — when in reality, you grew up surrounded by undiagnosed autistic people. You just called it something else.
Your cousin wasn’t “lazy.” He just couldn’t function without routine.
Your uncle didn’t “give you the creeps.” He struggled with social cues.
Your grandpa with the strict breakfast routine and same chair every morning? That was sensory comfort and hyperfixation.
That classmate who was brilliant but never spoke?
The sibling who had meltdowns over scratchy clothes or loud sounds?
The kid who knew more about dinosaurs or trains than the teacher?
The adult who wears the exact same outfit every single day because it feels right?
You didn’t miss autism. You mislabeled it.
Autism isn’t new — but diagnosis is.
Awareness is.
Acceptance is.
So yeah, go ahead and keep blaming screen time or Tylenol if it makes you feel better — while entire generations of folks were dismissed as “weird,” “bad,” or “slow.”
It’s not a rise in autism.
It’s a rise in people finally being seen for who they really are. 🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜
