Centers for Disease Control data reveals that out of every 45 children one suffers from autism. The figures point towards a rise since the last year where 1 in 68 children had autism. The 2014 results were, however, based on data gathered from 2010.
There has been a steady rise in the number of autistic kids in the U.S. In the year 1975, autism in the United States was at a much lower frequency with just one 5,000.
The number of children diagnosed with autism or related disorders has grown at what many call an alarming rate. In the 1970s and 1980s, about one out of every 2,000 children had autism.
“There’s a lot of controversy about that,” says Dr Jeff Milunsky, MD, director of clinical genetics and associate director of the Center for Human Genetics at Boston University.
Previous survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had shown that 1 in 50 school age children had autism. That figure was much higher than a recent government estimate.
Health experts say the new estimate doesn’t necessarily mean autism is rising. It suggests that doctors are diagnosing the disorder more often, especially in older children with milder cases.
Studies reveal that parents of children with ASD notice a developmental problem before their child’s first birthday. Concerns about vision and hearing were more often reported in the first year, and differences in social, communication, and fine motor skills were evident from 6 months of age.
Janine Kruiswijk working with the local chapter of the Autism Society stated that the recent figures could be the result of different things.
She stated that the change can be seen due to the different kinds of programs available to assist kids suffering from ASD.
The most dynamic figures attained from school records checking gives a lower estimate of 1 in 68 children. Advocacy group Autism Speaks suggests that the data released in 2014 will be considered to be the best estimate despite being very low.
There may have been alterations in the method in which parents attach labels to their kids that contribute to alterations in the way researchers surveyed them, said study author Benjamin Zablotsky, from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) covers a huge range of conditions. It includes the milder symptoms of Asperger’s disease and also more serious and mental issues and an inability to interact with everyone.
Walton stated that things that may improve treatment for autistic kids at an early stage are improved diagnoses and better methods for calculating the prevalence of autism.
The results of the study are in line with previous studies that also try to prove if autism is prevalent way too often and whether it is detected easily.
Researchers found that Autism was present in high numbers in the survey whereas parents reported way too few cases related to developmental delays. Researchers were smart enough to observe that the rise in autism figures in the survey is due to the change in survey methods that include questioning parents in a different manner.
He added, “I think within this report we found that the way that we ask the parents about autism spectrum disorder can have an impact on the way the parents respond to the question.”
Some of the other medical disorders on this list included Down syndrome, diabetes, cerebral palsy, heart conditions and arthritis.
Zablotsky said that this new step of adding autism in this list instead of questioning specifically about it may have resulted in the name of the ailment getting lost in the shuffle.
