ATLANTA, Feb. 8, 2007
Autism In U.S. More Prevalent Than Thought
Major Study: 1 In 150 American Children Has Development Disorder
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Play CBS Video Video Study: Higher Autism Rates A comprehensive new study took a snapshot of school-age kids and determined that many more children are autistic that had previously been thought. Dr. Jon LaPook reports.
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Video A School For Autistic Kids President Bush signed a bill to finance autism research, but it gives little money toward care or services. Sharyn Alfonsi looks at a school in Boston that's designed especially for autistic kids.
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Video Early Treatment For Autism Only On The Web: Vincent Strully, executive director of the New England Center for Children, talks with Sharyn Alfonsi about the need to treat autism at an early age.
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(CBS/iStockphoto)
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Interactive Breaking The Silence Find out more about autism, and where to get help for someone who may have this neurological disorder.
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Interactive In Your Head A look at the human brain and diseases and disorders that can plague it.
The new numbers, based on 2002 data, are higher than previously reported.
According to Lee Grossman, President of the Autism Society of America, "This report validates what we've been saying for quite some time, in that the numbers of those with autism has been under-reported. It also validates... that autism doesn't discriminate."
In addition to finding more children with autism than anyone thought, the study sheds light on another huge problem: Children are being diagnosed too late, usually not until they start school, reports CBS News medical correspondent Jon LaPook.
"This data today shows we're going to need more early intervention services and more therapists, and we're going to need federal and state legislators to stand up for these families," said Alison Singer, spokeswoman for Autism Speaks, the nation's largest organization advocating more services for autistic children.
To get a clearer picture of autism in America, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a comprehensive review of the medical and school records of children in 14 states, reports LaPook.
The CDC study calculated an average autism rate 6.6 per 1,000. That compares with last year's estimated rate of 5.5 in 1,000.
However, the states studied are not demographically representative of the nation as a whole, so officials cautioned against using the results as a national average. The study doesn't include some of the most populous states like California, Texas and Florida.
Also, the study does not answer whether autism is increasing a controversial topic, driven in part by the contention by some parents and advocates that autism is linked to a vaccine preservative. The best scientific studies have not borne out that claim.
"We can't make conclusions about trends yet," because the study's database is too new, said Catherine Rice, a CDC behavioral scientist who was the study's lead author.
Autism is a pervasive development disorder usually not diagnosed in children until after age 3. The disorder involves delays in the development of many basic skills, most notably the ability to socialize or form relationships with others as well as the ability to communicate and to use imagination, according to WebMD. The cause is not known.
Studies show that the earlier the intervention, the better the outcome.
"I think that the most important thing is that parents [and physicians] are informed," says Dr. Alfredo Lowe, a Psychologist in New Jersey. "The more knowledge we have, the more power we have. The sooner that these kinds of disorders can be diagnosed, the better the care."
Deena Chackes was diagnosed early, at only 14 months, LaPook reports. Her family moved from Georgia to enroll her in The McCarton School in New York City. She's now doing "fantastic." "She talks, not always easy to understand, but she talks. She behaves like any other kid," her family told CBS News.
Scientists have been revising how common they think the disorder is. Past estimates from smaller studies have ranged from 1 out of every 10,000 children to nearly 1 in 100.
Last year's estimate of 5.5 out of every 1,000 U.S. children was based on national surveys of tens of thousands of families with school-age kids. That fit into a prevalence range found in other recent studies.
The CDC has been developing an alternate way of measuring autism prevalence, building a network of university and state health departments for ongoing surveillance of autism and developmental disabilities. The study released Thursday is one of the first scientific papers to come out of that effort.
"This is a more accurate rate because of the methods they used," said Dr. Eric Hollander, an autism expert at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
The study involved 2002 data from parts or all of 14 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Researchers looked specifically at children who were 8 years old that year. They said most children with autism are identified for medical or educational services by that age.
The researchers checked health records in each area and school records when they were made available, looking for children who met diagnostic criteria for autism. They used those numbers to calculate a prevalence rate for each study area.
The rates varied from 3.3 per 1,000 in the study site in Alabama, which was made up of the state's 32 northernmost counties, to 10.6 in the site in New Jersey, which involved four counties, including metropolitan Newark.
Researchers say they don't know why the rate was so high in New Jersey. They think the Alabama rate was low at least partly because researchers had limited access to special education records there.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 57 Commentslike spinning in class but till i educated my self! teachers suggusted he had add.and pushed meds big mistake it riped apart his stomach lost weight and cried all the time. so we pulled him off. he had an Iq test it was very high. we had more test, sensory disorder was the conclusion. they put him in some special ed classes,but made him feel different he lack self conf. had writting problems which i blamed on being taken out of class for speech, fine motor skills were not great. he was all boy and rather play cars than color or play with play doe. The more we tried to help the less he'd do. But we needed the special ed so he could get some help at school what they did was give him notes instead of him taking them this made for a lazy child ...i told you his Iq is very high. But the end of my rope was he was always in trouble for foregetting or not having things example I'd sign a note he forget it and get detention would tell me but forget his note to stay after and get 2 might remember 1 but forget and come home on bus and end up in iss. this kid was missing days in class for crazy stuff. he has his quirks but we are very lucky.
my advice to anyone is educate your self, don't treat your kids any different and pray for patients:)
Last thing, I had my sons teacher from previous class or school communicate with each other. Especially, the ones who understood him and help him out a lot. They wrote letters, email, or call each other. I still do that now. I have letters of his previous theachers along with some of his work to show he can handle the class and what they can do to help. I did that for his college and work and I am still request letters from his employer and teachers in college.
Last thing, I had my sons teacher from previous class or school communicate with each other. Especially, the ones who understood him and help him out a lot. They wrote letters, email, or call each other. I still do that now. I have letters of his previous theachers along with some of his work to show he can handle the class and what they can do to help. I did that for his college and work and I am still request letters from his employer and teachers in college.
Regarding Social Skills, I buy books and video for my son to read and see video. I don't leave it up to the school only buy these things to help my son with his social skill and they are not cheap either. I bought my son a book on students with autism that is in college. He read it and if he had question I would help him find the answer. People like our children can be very friend and think other people are too. Also, I just purchase a video for my son regarding the work enviorment. So he knows what to expect at job. I recently found a company that has good books and video an that name is Disability Resources (www.disabilitytraining.com).
Be involve but don't be a pain to the teachers unless you have to.
Good Luck
I would love for you to email me but I don't want to put my email out there. I hope we can find a way to communicate.
My son has speech problem too. In the eighty the teachers did not want to give him speech thearpy until he spoke words. Now, I wish I have work really hard to have it done. You have to ask him to repeat himself when he talks now that why people judge him. When people look past his speech then they realize how smart he is then he win them over. My son love video game to thats why I told him since he loves games and computer some much then go to college in it. He knows more about computers than I do.
My suggestion to you is do a lot of research online, read books, talk to other people who are in the same situation you are in, and become and advocate for your son. Find the right teachers by talking to them. Some may not understand and you would have to educate them and tell them you will work with them. My son was in a special education school and classes but little by little we made him main stream study by the time he graduate from high in 2006 he had all regular classes. Now he is in college and working in his fields of computers. EDUCATE YOURSELF AND BECOME AN ANDVOCATE FOR YOUR SON.
Fragile X can be found in 1 in 3600 males and 1 in 4000 to 6000 females, people that are affected. Carriers of this gene can be 1 in 250 females and 1 in 800 males, without any knowledge besides family history.
I kind of hope they do. You can insist that your child receive only mercury free vacinations. Single doses, rather than combos, provide this.
My sister was always skeptical of this. She's an ER doctor. Then she had kids. Funny, she insisted on Merc free shots for her kids.
Don't be deliberately dense. "Massive" would be relative to the contents of the shot. No, nothing would look "massive" if all you're doing is comparing the volume of a shot to the volume of a swimming pool.
NOT TRUE. Banned in 1998 from over the counter drugs, thimerosal is still found in some vaccines.
Merck continued to supply infant vaccine containing a mercury-based preservative for two years after declaring that it had eliminated the chemical.
Merck continued to distribute vaccine containing the chemical known as thimerosal, until October 2001, according to an FDA letter sent in response to a congressional inquiry.
Thimerosal has largely been eliminated
from most routine childhood vaccines, though it still is present in most flu ahots.
Where are the autistic Amish? In Lancaster County, there should be well over 100 with some form of the disorder. The Amish have a religious exemption from vaccination. Thousands of children cared for by Homefirst Health Services in metropolitan Chicago have at least two things in common with thousands of Amish children in rural Lancaster: They have never been vaccinated. And they don't have autism.
3 weeks after surgery he was a different child; his pediatrician was amazed and could not believe he was the same child.
By 3 he was well on the way to learning new behavior skills, relationship skills and speech skills even though he had been so far behind in all developmental areas (other than growth).
I thank God very day that I read that article on pediatric sleep apnea and acted. I feel autism is on the rise because tonsillectomies have decreased since my generation. I also really feel that much of the ADD/ ADHD we see today are of the same nature because my child was on track for ADHD before surgery.
I've tried my best to get my experience out to others. I am a RN and just so thankful that I found a solution. Even though my son had classic signs, no speech development, rocking, poor personal interactive skills (plus stiffing when I tried to hold him) and sensitivity to noises, with the T&A and a lot of love and physical interaction he is now a healthy 16 year old testing in the 90th percentiles for the PSATs.
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