The number of people living with autism spectrum disorder surged by 2,400% between 2000 and 2024, according to the Institut national de santé publique du Québec. This figure reflects major changes in the way autism is understood.
Julien Prud’homme, a researcher in the Department of Humanities at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, has traced the history of the concept of autism in Québec be-tween 1972 and 2018. He consulted numerous documents produced by governments, health and education professionals, and associations of parents of autistic children. He also conducted interviews with some of these associations.
His conclusion is clear: the concept of autism has undergone a transformation in Qué-bec over the past few decades. In the 1980s, the number of people diagnosed with au-tism was very low. In the 1990s and 2000s, people who would previously have been diagnosed with an intellectual disability or learning difficulties began to be described as having autism.
Then, from the 2010s onwards, people who would not previously have been diagnosed with anything at all began to be labelled ‘autistic’. This trend was accompanied by an increase in the medicalization of children identified as neurodivergent and the creation of a professional sector dedicated to the treatment of autism.
The role of parents’ associations has also changed. Between 1990 and the early 2000s, these groups were driven by beliefs such as the impact of vaccines, diet and electro-magnetism on autism, which tended to marginalize them. In the 2000s, associations began to align themselves with more scientific definitions of autism.
For Julien Prud’homme, the history of the concept of autism reflects attitudes towards differences in neurodivergent people and society as a whole.
• To find out more about the statistics cited: https://www.inspq.qc.ca/indicateur/developpement-des-jeunes/trouble-spectre-autisme