Autism or (Autism Spectrum Disorders -ASD) is a disorder
that usually appears in children before the third year of age.
It affects the
genesis and development of the child in three ways:
- Language, or how to speak
- Social skills, or how to respond to others and communicate with them
- Behavior, or how to behave in certain situations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
estimates that about 1 in 88 children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
CDC’s estimate comes from
the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, which monitors the number of 8-year-old
children with ASDs living in diverse communities throughout the United States .
In 2007, CDC’s ADDM Network first reported that about 1 in 150 children had an
ASD (based on children who were 8 years old in 2002).
Then, in
2009, the ADDM Network reported that 1 in 110 children had an ASD (based on children who were 8 years old in 2006).
Most recently, the ADDM Network reported that 1 in 88 children had an ASD (based on children who were 8 years old
in 2008). This means that the estimated prevalence of ASDs increased 23% during 2006 to 2008 and 78% during 2002 to
2008 (1–4).
Symptoms of Autism:
• More children were diagnosed at earlier ages—a growing
number of them by 3 years of age. Still, most children were not diagnosed until after they were 4 years of age. On average,
diagnosis was a bit earlier for children with autistic disorder (4 years) than for children with the more broadly defined
autism spectrum diagnoses or pervasive developmental disordernot otherwise
specified (4 years, 5 months), and diagnosis was much later for children with
Asperger disorder (6 years, 3 months).
• As has been detailed in previous reports, we also found
that almost five times as many boys were being identified with ASDs as girls (1 in 54 compared to 1 in 252). Research
exploring why there are differences in the identified prevalence among males and females is ongoing and knowing that the
conditions are more common among boys can help direct our search for causes.
• The largest increases over time were among Hispanic and
Black children. We suspect that some of this was due to better screening and diagnosis. However, this finding
explains only part of the increase over time, as more children were identified in all racial and ethnic groups.
• The majority (62%) of children the ADDM Network identified
as having ASDs did not have intellectual disability. The largest increases during 2002 to 2008 were among children
without intellectual disability (those having IQ scores higher than 70), although there were increases in the identified
prevalence of ASDs at all levels of intellectual ability.
A person with an ASD might:
• Not respond to his or her name by 12 months of age (e.g.,
appear to not hear).
• Not point at objects to show interest by 14 months of age
(e.g., not point at an airplane flying over).
• Not play “pretend” games by 18 months of age (e.g.,
pretend to “feed” a doll).
• Avoid eye contact and want to be alone.
• Have trouble understanding other people’s feelings or
talking about his or her own feelings.
• Have delayed speech and language skills (e.g., use words
much later than siblings or peers).
• Repeat words or phrases over and over.
• Give unrelated answers to questions.
• Get upset by minor changes in routine (e.g., getting a new toothbrush).
• Have obsessive interests (e.g., get “stuck” on ideas).
• Flap his or her hands, rock his or her body, or spin in circles.
• Have unusual reactions to the way things sound, smell, taste, look, or feel.
causes of autism:
The causes of autism are not fully understood. Then that
autism is not a single disease, it is a spectrum of many diseases. For this
reason, scientists believe that many reasons could be lurking behind the autism
spectrum disorders.
Scientists studying many theories about the genetic and environmental
causes of autism so that they can be treated better.
Statistical research shows that the probability of a child
with autism will be higher:
- If in his family other injuries of autism or autism
- If the sex of the child is male
- If the father is more than forty years
- If the family history of genetic disorders and neurological
Although there is no cure for autism, so far, but the early
and intensive treatment, as much as possible, it can make a noticeable
difference and serious in the lives of children with the disorder.
For more information, please contact:
Jon Baio, EdS, MA
CDC/NCBDDD Phone: (404) 498-3860
MS E-86 E-mail: JBaio@cdc.gov
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