Autism more frequent than ever, very strange affliction

I was at a children's party this past weekend & the little boy was turning two. My wife and his mom are good friends so she knows all the details of the child's development. She told me the little boy was recently diagnosed as on the "Spectrum" for autism. I noticed that he didn't really communicate with any of the other children and preferred to be alone. His mother said that he doesn't play with toys in a "normal" way either. That he will pick random things around the house like shoes, toys & pillows, put them in a pile then move that pile "in order" all around the room for hours...Weird right? There is something effecting the children these days be it the inoculations? The G.M.O's & preservatives or dyes in the food ? or maybe even the fluoride in the water...This is becoming more & more frequent every year. I heard that now 1 out of 3 children is diagnosed with some form of this. Not sure if that's true but it definitely is scary...Any thoughts?