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Original Content at https://www.futurehealth.org/articles/U-S-Autism-Prevalence-Ris-by-Carin-Yavorcik-091218-197.html |
December 18, 2009
U.S. Autism Prevalence Rises to 1 in 110
By Carin Yavorcik
CDC Report Highlights Increased Prevalence, Continued Delay in Identification as Critical Public Health Crisis affecting American Families
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CDC Report Highlights Increased Prevalence, Continued Delay in Identification as Critical Public Health Crisis affecting American Families
Bethesda, MD The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released their national autism prevalence report today, confirming that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in the United States is 1 percent of the population, or one in 110 of children 8 years of age in 2006.
The long-awaited report was conducted by the CDC's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network in 11 sites in 2006 and tracks prevalence in children 8 years of age. The Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network is a group of programs funded by CDC to determine the number of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in the United States. The ADDM sites all collect data using the same surveillance methods, which are modeled after CDC's Metropolitan Atlanta Developmental Disabilities Surveillance Program (MADDSP).
“This report confirms what we at the Autism Society have been saying for years about the prevalence of autism in America and the critical importance of early identification and interventions. For the first time, we are hearing our government acknowledge the real increase in autism and validating the impact this condition has on individuals, families and their communities,†said Lee Grossman, Autism Society President and CEO. “The question still remains: How bad does it have to get before families receive appropriate lifespan services?â€
This report presents a number of other important details, including:
The ADDM report, which was conducted in the states of Alabama,
Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin, is consistent
with the Department of Health and Human Services National Survey of
Children's Health, published last October.
The increasing
numbers have long-term economic costs to the country, as autism is a
chronic medical condition affecting people across the lifespan. The
Autism Society calls on the U.S. government to address the pressing
need for community-based services to ensure a better quality of life
for people with autism and their families and to increase funding for
research into what factors put people at risk and treatments that will
mitigate the severest medical symptoms affecting people with this
chronic medical condition.
Click here to view CDC study.
reprinted from the autism society