Autism research on single neurons suggests signaling problems in brain circuits

Or the greater the likelihood that the autism symptoms are caused by one of these conditions as opposed to it being a primary condition. Fragile-x in particular is a genetic condition known for its physical and mental effects, much like like prader-willi syndrome or down syndrome. It's just as likely that effects from these conditions are being misdiagnosed as autism.

Your post seems confused more generally, though. What clinicians are diagnosing with ASD is a cluster of symptoms, not a specific syndrome. Symptoms can have multiple etiologies and that would still be useful clinically. A cold is treated similarly regardless of the exact viral strain causing the infection.

That a particular person doesn't have to deal with anal leakage is not an argument that they don't have a different condition.

"As an anecdotal evidence I managed to get myself diagnosed on the spectrum in the UK I went to an official diagnosis center and had sessions with an "occupational therapist", at no point have I ever seen a doctor not to mention a neurologist. As morbid as it sound I have that framed just by my ordained minister license which I got despite being Jewish."

If I was willing to lie to a therapist, I could probably get diagnosed with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or any of a large number of disorders, but the presence of malingering creeps doesn't disprove the existence of those conditions.

It is really dangerous to claim that autism can't be a serious condition unless it is alongside low IQ or physiological symptoms. It is also entirely unnecessary to stigmatise autism by calling it a disease, when it is so often inextricably linked to a persons personality.

Those with autism absolutely can be high functioning in the sense that they don't have the kind of co-occurring conditions that you describe. This does not always mean they do not need what most would see as drastic interventions and care.

People with autism often have a high ability to function on some social axis but are dangerously unaware of social conventions in others. Those with autism that lack the proper support can hurt themselves, they can hurt others, they can cause massive social disruption and they can end up with serious mental health problems. A diagnosis of autism can help society to provide much needed support.

We owe it to everyone in society to think about how we can help people without considering their states of existence defective.

Some people just like systemizing for its own sake :)

I'm the opposite, I have never gotten myself diagnosed. As you say, there doesn't seem to be much point to this.

> Why? there is no clinical significance to this.

I'm not really looking at this from a clinical perspective, but from a research perspective. From the perspective of finding out more about why this condition exists and what causes it, I think it is pretty significant there are large number of people who seem to be affected in similar ways, but for whom the condition is not so problematic.

Also, all three of these studies were conducted either before or shortly after the release of the DSM V, and explicitly use the DSM VI diagnostic criteria for autism.:

"Although new diagnostic criteria became available in 2013, the children under surveillance in 2014 would have grown up primarily under the DSM-IV-TR definitions for ASD, which are prioritized in this report."

You seem to be arguing that the relaxed criteria of the DSM V is invalid because the studies on people diagnosed with the stricter methods suggest a more severe condition. This is circular reasoning.

14% of the population have an IQ below 85. It's low, but not to the point of being a disability.

> 83% would have a other developmental, neurologic, chromosomal, and genetic conditions

What qualifies as a "condition" for the purpose of that statistic? What's the percentage for the general population? Frankly, if you actually include all genetic conditions, I'd be surprised if much less than 100% of the general population have one.

Logical thinking is really easy for me. Also abstracting, pattern matching, "out-of-the-box" thinking.. Loyalty, honesty and helpfulness are also positive traits common among autistic people.

Having a unique worldview certainly is helpful in some situations. However it also makes other situations, especially pertaining to social interactions with strangers, rather challenging at times..