Many experts believe the increase in the number of autism cases worldwide is a by-product of a recent broadening of diagnostic criteria. Others are convinced that the surge is at least in part real and thereby cause for grave concern.
In the state of California alone, the number of autistic children seeking social services has more than quadrupled in the past 15 years. From fewer than 4,000 in 1987 to nearly 18,000 today. The rise in autism and Asperger's disorder syndrom is widespread and occurs in every job category and socioeconomic class and in every state.
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Autism was assumed to be comparatively rare, affecting as few as 1 in 10,000 people. The latest studies, however, suggest that as many as 1 in 150 kids age 10 and younger may be affected by autism or a related disorder. In the u.s. alone, a total of nearly 300,000 children are affected.
If adults are included, (according to the Autism Society of America) more than a million people in the U.S. suffer from one of the autistic disorders known as pervasive developmental disorders. (PDD) The problem is five times as common as Down syndrome and three times as common as juvenile diabetes.
Autism is not a choice. It's a challenge.
Autism is not the tragedy. It needs Understanding!
No wonder parents are besieging the offices of psychologists and psychiatrists in their search for remedies. No wonder school systems are adding special aides to help teachers cope.
In their urgent quest for answers, parents are provoking a scientific revolution.In response to the concerns they are raising money for autism research.
Today dozens of scientists are racing to identify the genes linked to autism. They are beginning to examine environmental factors that might contribute to the development of autism. They use advanced brain-imaging technology to probe the deep interior of autistic minds. Scientists are gaining rich new insights into this baffling spectrum of disorders and are beginning to float intriguing new hypotheses about why people affected by it develop minds that are strangely different from our own and yet, in some important respects, hauntingly similar.
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