Autism statistics information
This growing awareness of the disorder has led to an increase in the information and support available to parents. So what are the latest statistics on autism?
Who is affected
Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) has prepared a summary of the latest statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and reports that approximately 1 million people in the US have autism. About 1 in 150 children is diagnosed with autism. Because boys are diagnosed more often than girls, that translates to 1 in 94 men.
Every 20 minutes a new case of autism is diagnosed; about 24,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. In the state of California, approximately 7 out of 10 children diagnosed with autism are under the age of 14.
Economic impact and financing
The economic impact of autism is estimated at more than $ 90 billion and is expected to double over the next decade. It is the fastest growing developmental disability in America.
How does the diagnostic fee affect funding? In the late 1990s, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) allocated just $ 5 million to autism research. Today, NIH funding for autism, which affects 1 in 150, is $ 15 million. By comparison, leukemia, which occurs in 1 in 25,000 children, receives $ 300 million in research funding. Muscular dystrophy, which affects 1 in 20,000, receives $ 160 million; cystic fibrosis, which affects 1 in 5,000, receives $ 75 million; and juvenile diabetes, which affects 1 in 500, receives $ 140 million.
Increase in diagnoses
According to David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm, in the 1980s, 1 to 2 of every 10,000 children in the US were diagnosed with autism. This number increased to 20 per 10,000 in the late 1990s. In 2000, the number increased to 40 out of 10,000 and in 2004 it increased again to 60 out of 10,000.
The cause of the increase is up for debate
Researchers are not clear if this increase is due to a real increase in cases or a better diagnosis. One argument against the increasing accuracy of diagnosis is that the rates of diagnosis for Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and mental retardation have remained the same.
Regardless of the reason for the increase in numbers, autism cases in the US are increasing, and funding for research appears not to have kept pace with this increase. CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding notes that “” Our estimates are getting better and more consistent, although we still can’t say if there is a real increase in [autism spectrum disorders] or if the changes are the result of our best studies. However, we know that these disorders affect too many children. “