I have had several students who have been identified as being on the autism spectrum. No two have had the same needs. One other teacher on my team has a grandson who is autistic. Her family has had great success with restricting his diet. No refined sugars, gluten-free, etc. It does seem like we are seeing more and more autistic children these days. I believe it is just because we are doing a better job of identifying it. In my kdg class of 17 students this past school year, 2 were autistic and I had another child (very high functioning) whose parents are looking into this diagnosis, as well. It is a medical diagnosis, not one made by the school psychometrist.