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It's also important to remember that in Canadian public schools, kids with mental disabilities were historically segregated from other students. They had special classrooms and even schools sometimes for mentally challenged kids (which included a lot of kids with autism). They even rode their own school buses. It's not that they didn't exist, it's that they weren't integrated. I remember when integration happened in Ontario, it was a big deal. Many parents were upset about it (ignorant ones). I can't remember what grade I was in (I think 5 or 6), but I remember when they shut down the "special" school in our town and the next year we had more kids with learning disabilities (including autism) in our class.

At one time, if you had any kind of developmental disorder, you were pretty much segregated and banished. The teachers and wardens would then proceed to teach them at the lowest level, or neglect them completely. A lot of the developmental problems were environmental. You saw it a lot with kids that had Down's Syndrome as well. They were pretty much all written off, but now with integrated education, many of them can be much more independent.