Hi Bill:
I'm one of those people who think autism is being underdiagnosed.
Here are some examples of autism that is called something else for
obvious political reasons:

This one is called "reactive attachment disorder," although it is
indistinguishable from autism:

http://www.psychnet-uk.com/dsm_iv/attachment_disorder.htm

This one is called "hospitalism" although it too is indistinguishable
from autism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospitalism

It's strange, but it seems that any kind of difficulty or trauma in
early infancy or at birth can cause symptoms indistinguishable from
autism. You have to be very careful about spreading that around,
though, because you might cause unneccessary distress to mothers of
autistic children who have self-doubts to begin with. Regardless,
enlightenment is never a totally bad thing, so:

http://www.adoptiondoctors.com/articles/Article/Institutional-Autism--
secondary-to-orphanage-living-conditions-/4 (autism in orphanages)

http://www.ssc.education.ed.ac.uk/resources/vi&multi/hcass96.html
blind autism (infantile blindness and autism)

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/24689.php (premature birth
and autism)

http://www.wombecology.com/caesareans.html (caesarean birth and
autism)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/health/4554413.stm (difficult birth and
autism)

And don't forget this one:
http://www.mcgill.ca/headway/fall2006/indepth1/ (autism and neglect)


Finally, the link listed below is a BIG surprise, because it turns
out that all the studies done to demonstrate autism is genetic have
been bass-ackwards. In reality, being born a twin itself causes a
predisposition to autism.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1949329.stm (twins and autism)

Apparently the same thing is true with ADHD:

http://www.myadhd.com/causesofadhd.html (adhd and twins)


Come to think of it, ADHD and autism generally seem to have similar
etiologies:

http://www.playattention.com/attention-deficit/articles/adhd-brain-
growth-and-development/ (adhd and romanian orphanages)

http://www.prematurity.org/research/helen-adhd.html (adhd and
premature birth)

Maybe ADHD is misdiagnosed autism?

As a matter of fact, asthma might be an autistic symptom:

http://www.explore.rice.edu/explore/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=8095
(asthma and premature birth)

http://www.wombecology.com/caesareans.html (caesarean birth and
asthma)

What do you think of that?

I'm beginning to think that autism is the most underdiagnosed
condition in the world. Maybe all beings that develop in the womb
are necessarily somewhere on the autistic spectrum.

Yours,
Larry