Autism rates person exploded. Could nan meaning beryllium partially to blame?

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news convention astatine nan Department of Health and Human Services. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption
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Alex Wong/Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news convention astatine nan Department of Health and Human Services.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has spent years spreading uncertainty astir nan information of vaccines and linking them to autism.
Dozens of studies person debunked nan theory, but it has nevertheless persisted for years. Part of nan logic why whitethorn beryllium that autism diagnoses person soared complete nan past fewer decades.
Dr. Allen Frances is psychiatrist who led nan task unit that created nan 4th version of nan Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which expanded nan meaning of Autism, which he says mightiness person played a facet successful that uptick.
Rates of autism person exploded successful caller decades. Could nan objective meaning of autism itself beryllium partially to blame?
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This section was produced by Michael Levitt and Connor Donevan. It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Nadia Lancy. Additional reporting from NPR's Throughline podcast.