Approximately 1 in 150 children have autism, that is approx. 73 a day, and approx. 26,767 children a year are born with autism in the US.
Numbers are up from 1 in 10,000 a generation ago, and 3-4 generations ago, autism was practically unknown.
Reasons for the increase may include:
- Increased numbers of pregnant women on medication during pregnancy. For example, the anticonvulsant drug sodium valproate (epilim/depakote) is proven in studies to cause a 10% risk of autism when unborn babies are exposed to it.
- Various other anticonvulsant drugs and hormonal drugs are also suspect, and under investigation for causing increased risk of autism.
- Increased diagnosis. More children at the "softer" end of the spectrum are now obtaining diagnosis.
- Environmental genetic damage. It is generally accepted that certain chemicals in our environment cause genetic damage. This may be associated with the increase in autism rates.
- Older parental ages. Women are having children when older. Genetic damage is more likely to occur in eggs from older women, and in sperm cells from older men.
Unknown but possible candidates for autism rate increase include:
- foetal ultrasound, which has never been tested for human safety yet is now universal
- vaccine overload, where too many vaccines create an immune response overload in young children / babies
- general environmental pollution, including lead and Mercury, plus a host of other damaging chemicals and poisons.
* The current prevalence in children is roughly .6% or one in 165 children. (Fombonne E, Zakarian R, Bennett A, Meng L, McLean-Heywood D. Pervasive developmental disorders in Montreal, Quebec, Canada: prevalence and links with immunizations. Pediatrics. 2006 Jul;118(1):e139-50).
The CDC put diagnosis at around 1 in 68, however this only accounts for children who have been diagnosed - Autism is under-diagnosed in girls and minority groups such as African-American children. We simply have no way of knowing how many Autistic children there are in America.
The mission of the Autism Society of America is to improve the quality of life for individuals that have autism. The Autism Society of America also raises money to put toward finding answers to the many unanswered questions about autism.
Autism Society of America was created in 1965.
Our site, given below, includes teaching materials for teaching kids with Autism.
You can go to autismtutors.com. They offer services specializing in the tutoring of kids with autism.
Autism can be good because a lot of autism kids have special talents that we don't have, a lot of them have a picture perfect memory.
In the 1930s, children with autism were often institutionalized or given harmful treatments like electroconvulsive therapy or insulin shock therapy. They were also subjected to abusive practices such as restraint, isolation, and punishment for exhibiting symptoms of their condition. It was a time marked by misunderstanding and mistreatment of individuals with autism.
You are a freak for asking. No.
The cast of Autism in America - 2014 includes: Chandra Wilson as Narrator
48% of people in north America know about autism
On average 4.3 males have autism for every 1 female. So only about 18%-19% of people with autism are female.
Bethesda, Maryland
Autism rates are higher in boys simply because more boys are diagnosed as Autistic than girls. It was believed that Autism was a 'boys disorder' but as understanding of Autism grows we're starting to realize that girls may be equally likely to be Autistic but that Autism symptoms display differently in girls so it isn't being picked-up as easily when a girl is Autistic.