Autism has always existed. We haven’t always called it autism

When I look back at home videos of my daughter Isabel, I see the signs of autism clearly. But at the time, in 1992, I couldn’t. Autism was still considered rare. In one video, when Isabel was 15 months old, she sits quietly, putting coins in a piggy bank. She doesn’t respond to her name or look at us. My wife and I marvel at her focus and precision and predict she will be a scientist.

In a widely anticipated news conference on Sept 22, US President Donald Trump declared that there was “nothing more important” in his presidency than

reducing the prevalence of autism.

He claimed that his administration would virtually eliminate the condition, which he called a “horrible crisis” and which a top federal health official suggested might be “entirely preventable”.