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CDC Reports 1 in 50 American Children Diagnosed with Autism

According to a new report that has generated significant debate in mainstream media and all over the Internet, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 1 in 50 children between the ages of 6 and 17 has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). 1 This represents a 72% increase in the diagnosis since 2007, when a similar report claimed a rate of 1 in 88 children. 2

The new study, undertaken to evaluate a fourfold increase in parent-reported ASD, 3 was based on telephone surveys of households with children and compared parent-reported autism diagnoses in 2011-2012 with similar reporting for 2007. The new report revealed increases in diagnosis of autism across nearly all categories but, as is often the case in a discussion of autism, there is more to the story than a simple, though alarming, upward trend.

Increased Diagnosis of Autism in Boys and Adolescents

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) comprises a wide range of disability, but generally includes an element of difficulty in communication, behavior and social interaction. The information gathered from the 2012 survey showed that much of the increase in diagnosis was in children whose disability was on the mild end of the autism spectrum, which often is not recognized until a child starts school and differences in learning style become apparent.

Supporting this finding, the 2012 data also showed that many of the new diagnoses of autism were among children identified at a later age than those from the earlier report. 4 Although the survey revealed significant increases in ASD reported for all age groups, the increase in prevalence was most dramatic among school-aged boys and in adolescents between 14 and 17 years of age. Generally, boys were found to be four times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with autism.

CDC Researchers Say Increases Reflect Greater Awareness

While government researchers admitted they cannot be certain of the reasons behind the upward trend in numbers of children parents report as having been diagnosed with autism, they concluded that better testing methods, changes in diagnostic services and increased awareness of ASD among parents, educators and health care professionals probably explain the striking rise in autism prevalence. 5 They suggested that the prenatal period may play a role in risk for developing ASD, claiming that supports the argument that the significant increase in prevalence noted in the 6–13 year age group reflects a change in recognition of the disorder, rather than in a true rise in numbers of children affected with autism in the U.S. 6

However, looking further back, it has been noted that there has been a 600% increase in diagnosis of autism over the past 20 years, with only a third attributable to better awareness and diagnosis of autism. The other two thirds has been linked by many researchers to genetics and environmental factors impacting on genetic expression. 7

Can Better Awareness Explain a 72% Increase in Prevalence Over Five years?

The debate over whether the obvious increase in prevalence of autism among children reflects a significant rise in the incidence of the disorder or, as these CDC researchers contend, is a simple indication of improvements in recognition and diagnosis of the disorder has been raging for 25 years. Over that period, one thing is clear: More children have autism than ever before.