Bad football officiating is kind of like autism.
Oh, hello there! Refereeing #takes only come in one temperature, and that temperature is piping-ass hot. You knew this long before you clicked. Stay with me here.
Forty years ago one in 2,000 kids was diagnosed with autism. Today it's one in 150 and it's no longer autism - it's the autism spectrum disorder. The conversation is a lot more complicated than it used to be because our knowledge and understanding of brain diseases have expanded.
Research has given the diagnosis a gradient, and while that well-documented expansion and the education that comes with it have driven both awareness and treatments, there's a fair bit of noise around unsubstantiated conspiracies contributing to those skyrocketing numbers.