This much we know for certain about autism: it is being diagnosed with more frequency now than ever before. According to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 68 children in 2012—the most recent year for which data is available—was identified as being on the autism spectrum. That's up from one in 88 in 2008 and one in 150 in 2002. Whether that trend is the result of the medical community looking more closely or becoming better at detecting autism, or whether its a sign of something akin to an epidemic, is altogether unclear. In fact, very little about the developmental disorder or its underlying causes is straightforward.