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Autism Prevalence Rate
Past & Present: Autism
Prevalence Rate
1985: The prevalance of Autism is 1 in 2500 births
2000: Autism rates rise to
1 in 500
2004: 1 in 166 children are affected with Autism
2009: An astounding 1 in 91 births result in an
Autism diagnosis
A new study by the CDC shows the autism prevalence rate is much higher than originally thought (1 in 150). According to the study, autism affects 1 in 91 children. And 1 in 58 boys, totaling an estimated 673,000 or approximately 1% of all children in the United States. (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention October, 2009).
An estimated 50 children are diagnosed with autism every day. Individuals diagnosed with autism are now estimated to be in the tens of millions.
Autism is four times more prevalent in boys than girls. Current statistics show autism occurs in all racial, ethnic and social groups.
Autism is "a continuing urgent public health concern."
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
In early 2007 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported data in its 2002 study, a diagnosis rate of one in 150. The study consists of about 10% of U.S. eight-year-old children born in 1994 from 14 states - Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. A total of 2,685 eight-year-olds were identified as having an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The study found a higher autism prevalence rate in boys than girls (2.8-6 boys to girls, depending on the state) and no statistically significant difference among white and black children.
New Jersey had the highest rate of autism ever recorded in the United States: one in 94 children, and one in 60 boys.
The average age of earliest ASD diagnosis ranged between 4-5 years. But for 51–91 percent of children with an ASD, developmental concerns had been recorded before age 24 months. This underscores the need for earlier identification of autism.
To read the full study visit: www.cdc.gov
"Autism is the fastest-evolving disorder in all of
medical science."
Chairman, Columbia University, Dept. of Psychiatry
Many autistic children have learning disabilities. While others have average intelligence, and some individuals are above average. There are also individuals with autism who are considered "savants," which means they have exceptional skills in at least one area, i.e. art, music, math or memory.
While autism is one of the most common developmental disorders American children face, many professionals in the medical and educational fields are still unaware of the best methods to diagnose and treat the disorder. What is known is that once a diagnosis is made, initiating
early intervention services
significantly improves outcomes for people with autism and can reduce the level of funding and services needed later in life.
A recent Zogby poll finds: Caucasians (35 percent) are more likely than Hispanics (25 percent) or African Americans (22 percent) to know someone with autism. People with higher education and higher household incomes are also more likely to say they personally know someone with autism. And almost half (47 percent, up from 37 percent in 2002) of those who know someone with autism describe their relationship to this person as a friend or neighbor. The remaining results were identical to 2002, with 14 percent reporting that an immediate family member has autism and in 11 percent of cases, a distant relative.
Global Autism Prevalence Rates
The Autism Epidemic is global:
- United Kingdom - 1 in 86 children in the UK has Autism
- Quebec, Canada - 1 in every 167 births is affected
- Brisbane, Australia - The treatment of Autism and related conditions is costing the Australian economy about $5.8 billion per year.
Source: The Autism Research Institute
For more autism prevalence rate information click here.
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