Dylan Charles for Waking Times. New figures for autism prevalence amongst school-age children (2-17 years) in the United States were recently published in a report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
According to this new estimate, rates of autism amongst the nation’s school children have climbed to 1 in 50, up from an estimated 1 in 88 for 2012, an increase partly represented by a broadening of the definition of autism, as well as increase in the ability to detect it.
“More people than ever before are being diagnosed with an ASD. It is unclear how much of this increase is due to a broader definition of ASDs and better efforts in diagnosis. However, a true increase in the number of people with an ASD cannot be ruled out. We believe the increase in ASD diagnosis is likely due to a combination of these factors.” [CDC]