About 1 in 88 children in the United States has autism, and the prevalence of the condition has risen nearly 80 percent over the past decade, federal health officials reported Thursday.
The new survey, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the latest evidence of a steady upward trend of a disorder whose cause remains unknown despite much research in recent years.
The rising rate of autism could be the result of finding children missed in previous surveys or an actual increase in the condition, or a combination of the two. The trend has been observed in Canada and Western Europe as well as the United States.
Children with the most extreme form of autism are socially withdrawn, speak little, dislike affection and eye contact, and engage in repetitive actions. Once thought to be very rare, milder forms are now recognized. One of them, Asperger syndrome, describes behavior that in the past might have been seen as peculiar and abnormal but not evidence of illness.
The CDC study surveyed 14 states for the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders among 8-year-olds in 2008. The prevalence that year of 11.3 cases per 1,000 children was 23 percent higher than in 2006. It was 78 percent higher than in 2002, when the survey began.
Autistic children were diagnosed at age 4 on average six months earlier than in 2006, but not early enough for optimal therapy, according to many experts.
It does reflect what we're seeing here locally, said Ivy Zwicker, director of the Autism Treatment Center of San Antonio. We have seen an increase in our call volume and our patient caseload.
Zwicker said she thinks a greater push for screening and early diagnosis is probably the reason for the rise, both locally and nationwide.
She noted that local pediatrician and autism expert Dr. Chris Plauch-Johnson helped write guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2007 recommending that all children be screened for autism twice by age 2.
Plauch-Johnson could not be reached for comment.
Original post:
Drastic increase in autism