1 in 166... or "quirky"

According to an ad I saw last night, the odds of a kid being diagnosed as autistic (I'm assuming that includes the entire spectrum from Aspberger's to the full monty)... and then I skimmed some interesting articles in Newsweek about 'quirky' kids. Which got me to thinking... I know the number of children diagnosed with autism has gone up because of our increased awareness, but how much of that increased number is because we've become anxious to come up with a label or diagnosis if a child doesn't "fit in"?
As the article states, there's a difference between a kid who doesn't interact 'normally' because he's not interested in the same stuff, and a kid who doesn't interact 'normally' because they, well, really can't. I wonder how many kids are currently stigmatized by something a school counselor scribbled on a form when they were in elementary school.
I am by no means dismissing legitimate parental concern, nor the challenges of having/dealing with/being an individual with autism. However, I think the first article has a point -- I think people seem mighty quick to judge, test or diagnose. We humans lurve our labels and positively live to categorize, but we might be doing a real disservice to these kids by slapping a label on them.
I was quite the quirky little number back in the day. I remember reading novels under the desk in reading group while other kids struggled with Dick and Jane... spending recess by myself reading or shooting the breeze with the playground aide instead of the typical kid stuff... yeah, I definitely had my glitches. With today's apparent mindset, I often wonder what I would've tested as, in my 'weird little kid' phase.  (Who am I trying to kid - like I grew out of it. Heh.)

"I don't know what's wrong with you, kid, but I bet it's hard to pronounce."