Neuropediatrician José Salomão Schwartzman sparked controversy in Brazil. According to him, the increase in autism diagnoses could be confusing people who are simply not very sociable with actual cases of level 1 autism, and he warns that without genetic or neuroimaging tests, the line between the two is too thin.
For some, he is right: he is warning about a system that labels people too quickly and without sufficient scientific rigor. For others, his words minimize diagnoses that took many families years to obtain and cast doubt on the real experiences of autistic people.
Is this a necessary criticism of the lack of objective tests, or a way of delegitimizing legitimate diagnoses?