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Autism in US More Prevalent than First Thought: 1 in 150 American Children Has Developmental Disorder (Article from “60 Minutes: HealthWatch website”)

I first saw this article on CNN’s website and it both intrigued and worried me. My son Michael was diagnosed as autistic when he was 2 years old; I knew many other mothers with autistic children. The previous number of children who were diagnosed was 1 in 136 and suddenly the number has jumped to 1 in 150. According to the above article, the CDC study “calculated an average autism rate of 6.6 to 1,000″, as opposed to “last year’s estimated rate of 5.5 to 1,000.” Suddenly, people were asking questions and pointing fingers.

“Annie, did you see this article?” one of my friends asked me.

“I read it,” I said. “Pretty interesting, isn’t it.” I wondered why there was such a drastic increase in autistic children. Was the statistic true or was it exaggerated? How could it be misleading? Let us look at some facts behind the statistic.

• Early Intervention: Last night, the CBS news show “60 Minutes” ran a segment on the early diagnosis or autism in children as young as 12-14 months old. The younger the child, the sooner intervention can be made in their development. As more and more parents and physicians detect the symptoms at earlier ages, the more children become typed under the “autistic spectrum”.
• The definition of the “autistic spectrum” has changed: Autism covers a wide variety of disorders, from Aspberger’s Syndrome (high-functioning autism. The child usually has a high IQ, but has some autistic tendencies, like difficulty in social situations) to the “classic” definition of developmental delay and anti-social behavior. Since the 1970’s, the autistic spectrum has been expanded as more disorders are defined. This could also account for the increase.
• The scope of the particular study: According to the article above, the study involved (specifically) 8 year olds, since “most children with autism are diagnosed for medical or educational services by that age.” It was conducted in 14 states and some states had higher rates of diagnosis than others.
• Vaccinations as a cause?: People debate whether this one has any truth. Some claim that certain immunizations (the MMR—measles, mumps, rubella—vaccine) contains amounts of mercury that causes (or triggers) autism. This has not been conclusively proven.

So is the statistic true? Perhaps, as children are diagnosed earlier and the definition of autism expands. This study focuses on a limited scope, but its results shed light on autism, its symptoms and its impact on children’s lives. More public awareness brings understanding…and hopefully, a push for finding a cure.

This link will take you to Lesley Stahl’s interview on “60 Minutes”. The interview also lists links and articles related to autism.

Photo courtesy of 3rd Coast Chick, used under a Creative Commons License.

[tags]Autism, prevalence, causes, study, research, news[/tags]