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Climbing Autism Rates
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The American Medical Association reports in a story found here that "...25 years ago, autism was a relatively unusual diagnosis....many physicians [aren't] sure what has driven that rate upward. But...think broadening the definition of autism "accounts for at least half of new cases identified, and maybe more."

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the autism rate is going up markedly. From 2002 to 2006, the rate of autism spectrum disorders among 8-year-olds jumped 40%, from one in 154 to one in 110, according to a study released Dec. 18, 2009, in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report."

"Researchers offered no firm explanation for the upward trend...however, the CDC report pointed to a number of factors, including improved community awareness, the widening of diagnostic criteria to include milder presentations, and earlier identification.  Some experts cautioned against interpreting the CDC's report to mean the occurrence of autism is rising as quickly as the numbers might show."

Throwing "evidence based" research aside, "My own feeling is there is an actual increase in incidence of autism, but it's not at an epidemic level. And we have to be careful we don't identify it as such," said Darold Treffert, MD, professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison.  Dr. Treffert has written for decades about autistic savants, and consulted on the 1988 film Rain Man."

"Autism diagnoses among 8-year-olds jumped 40% from 2002 to 2006.  For the 2006 surveillance, 2,757 of the 307,790 8-year-olds living in the 11 participating states were identified as having an autism spectrum disorder, or 9 out of 1,000 children. That was up from 6.6 per 1,000 in 2002. Prevalence varied widely, from 4.2 per 1,000 children in Florida, to 12.1 in Arizona and Missouri."
 
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