Autism diagnoses in a large sample from the UK rose by a startling 787 percent from 1998 to 2018, according to a recent paper. Published in Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, the paper adds to a growing body of research showing increases in the diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) throughout the world, including in the United States—yet the government agencies charged with protecting public health remain hesitant to acknowledge or explain the increase in underlying prevalence. Scientists dispute whether the rise is driven by an actual increase in prevalence or a greater recognition of the disorder by mental health professionals. The authors of the UK paper used data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink primary care database. The 6,786,212 patients included in the database in 1998 rose to 9,594,598 by 2018, of whom 65,665 were diagnosed with autism by that point. The researchers documented a particularly stark rise in autism diagnoses …