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New CDC Data: As Many as 1 Percent of Kids May Be Autistic
Filed under: In The News, Research Reveals: Babies, Research Reveals: Toddlers & Preschoolers, Research Reveals: Big Kids
Is autism on the rise, or are American doctors better able to diagnose it? Credit: Beverly & Pack, Flickr
The Centers for Disease Control have updated their estimated number of American children with autism: The data now shows that between 1 in 80 and 1 in 240 children have an ASD (autism spectrum disorder). That averages out to one in 110 or about 1 percent.
The 10 communities that participated in a 2006 autism study also had been surveyed in 2002. In the later study, ASD diagnoses increased by 57 percent. It's unclear what might have caused that striking increase."No single factor explains the changes in identified ASD prevalence over the time period studied," says the CDC's announcement on the data. "Although some of the increases are due to better detection, a true increase in risk can not be ruled out."
Most of the children identified as autistic had shown developmental problems before the age of 36 months. But the average age of earliest ASD diagnosis was much later -- about 54 months of age. ASD was four to five times more common among boys than girls in this study, with an estimated one in 70 boys and one in 315 girls diagnosed.
The data, collected by CDC's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network in multiple communities throughout the United States, included more than 300,000 participants. That group represents about 8 percent of the U.S. population of 8-year-olds.
"All children in the included study were 8 years of age because previous research has shown that tracking this age helps us get the most complete estimate of who is affected with an ASD," Dr. Christine Rice, the study's lead author, explained in a press briefing held last month to announce the data.
Do you think the incidence of autism is rising , or do you think the numbers are increasing because detection and diagnosis is improving?
Related: Behavioral Training and Management for Autism
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
1-14-2010 @ 8:33AM
No Increase Really said..."In the later study, ASD diagnoses increased by 57 percent. It's unclear what might have caused that striking increase."
So tired of hearing about the mysterious "increase" in autism. There aren't increases in true, classic Autism, but in all the new "autism spectrum". Now kids who are socially awkward or shy suddenly have "aspergers" so that their parents can get extra help and not have to parent them or accept that maybe their kid just isn't the "coolest kid in class". Its so sad, Autism is the new ADHD. Parents now just love having all these fake things to diagnose their kids with -it makes me sick.
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1-11-2010 @ 6:21PM
JenSosso said...You really should learn about Spectrum disorders before you go making such comments. I have a child on the spectrum and trust me I did not make this up just to have an excuse, or get extra stuff for my child. I have spent many years learning about her disorder and doing everything in my power to help her fit into the "normal" world. A world filled with ignorant people like you. I couldn't care less if she was miss popluar all I want for her is to have one good friend, and not have to struggle everyday to understand the world.
People like you make me so angry, it people like you who give me dirty looks in the store when she has a meltdown or stop being my friend because my child has problems and issues that "normal" children don't.
2-20-2010 @ 3:59PM
Laura said...Your comment is truly uneducated. If you lived with a child who truly had aspergers, you would change your song. My son has aspergers, and sure to an outsider who doesn't see him more than 5 minutes, they may not see anything different. But if you had him in a classroom all day, or had to try to get him out of the house or changed the order in which the events of the day were going to happen, you would see how he was not "like every other child."
Perhaps you have seen the diagnosis abused, but for anyone I have seen with the diagnosis, it is valid, and not desired. Parents with a child anywhere on the spectrum would love to not have the daily struggles they have just to do normal every day things.
1-11-2010 @ 3:12PM
al said...I completely agree with No Increase. Sometimes kids are just a little odd, and thats ok. When they aren't told something is wrong with them, they often develop just fine. Just like anyone else they find their "niche" where they're happy and productive. Not everyone is the quarterback or big-deal business man. What's going to happen to all of these kids on the "spectrum" when they become adults? How much should employers be willing to accommodate? They aren't learning to help themselves when they are constantly being told that something is wrong with them.
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