The Autism Explosion
I happened to be surfing the interwebs and came across an interesting article on autism. While the article doesn’t really contain any groundbreaking news or insights, it did contain a couple of statistics and quotes that I thought folks might be interested in.
Speaking at the Fordham Graduate School of Education’s fifth annual Early Childhood Conference on April 27, Cecelia McCarton, M.D., said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now estimate the prevalence of autism among American children at 1 in 150.
Think about that for a second…1 in 150 children in America have some form of autism. If autism continues to be diagnosed at these rates, millions upon millions of Americans will be directly affected by autism, not to mention the millions of family members who will be impacted by a diagnosis of autism in a loved one. No one really knows for sure what causes autism - though there’s plenty of speculation. Genetics, environment, diet, immunizations - all have been speculated to be possible causes ot autism, but there hasn’t been much research into identifying which one (or combination) of those factors contribute to autism.
More from the article:
Autism is a particularly difficult disorder to treat, McCarton said, because of its pervasive nature. Unlike disorders that affect only motor skills or speech and language, she said, autism “cuts across every single developmental area.”
As the parent of an autistic child, I can say that this is what’s most maddening about autism - it’s not just confined to one specific developmental area, so progress is slow in most cases. Now we’re blessed that Nick’s autism is relatively mild, so his progress is steady and tangible, but there’s always the possibility that his progress could slow or even regress. While I’m encouraged by the progress that’s been made in increasing autism awareness among Americans, I recognize we still have a long way to go. Nick was diagnosed as autistic at two and a half years old, and we’re still waiting to start receiving the Medicaid he needs to pay for the intensive therapy he needs. Despite the long wait, I still consider our family to be lucky. We’re lucky to live in a state that’s more progressive than most when it comes to assisting children with autism, and we’re lucky to live in a state where our elected officials recognize this growing problem.
Edit: After writing this entry, I decided I’d write a letter to my State Senator about Senate Bill 178, which would mandate that all insurance companies that provide health insurance to state employees have to provide coverage for autism and related spectrum disorders. I’ve never been much of a letter writer, but I think this could be the start of something…