We pursued testing for a learning disability with a licensed psychologist for my son but they came back with a whole list of diagnoses including autism. The Dr saw markers and said it would be very mild, level 1 if he had it, and wanted to run an extra test. After the assessment, he was diagnosed with level 2 autism. He has some traits: sensory issues/overwhelm and difficulty making friends, but that's about it. The diagnosis just came out of nowhere and I just accepted it for the last 8 months.
Fast forward to now and we take my daughter who we're certain has ADHD to be formally dx because her inattention is causing her various issues and they said she has autism markers and they wanted to do another assessment later this week. It's causing me to doubt the diagnosis. I did not have any concerns for my daughter, but it did get me thinking - are people from other cultures labeled as autistic more often? Does being from a non Western culture make someone more likely to be diagnosed?
I've been trying to think what's making them stand out and I think it's cultural differences. Our culture doesn't have sarcasm, inuendo, or those other second meanings for phrases. They often ask why the people on tv are being mean or if they say something sarcastic they will think the character is confused. We do not touch people outside of parent/child relationship or spouse. The children focus well and will do whatever activity (study, read, draw, play outside, play a game) they are assigned until they're told to switch (often for more than an hour) which is normal in our culture, but apparently shorter attention spans for middle/high school children are normal here? They speak 3 languages, excel in school, and I have no behavioral complaints. They demonstrate empathy, compassion, and understand others feelings. They have no trouble clearly communicating their emotions verbally and I've seen no more meltdowns than in any other hormonal teenager (maybe 3 total for my daughter). The doctor said the cadence of their speech and advanced vocabulary were markers but academics are extremely important in our culture (my 9 year old passed 10th grade human anatomy and physiology in the US, and my 13 year old just earned 3 college credits in the US last month).