In its “Talk of the Nation” program, NPR (12/20, Conan) discussed the reasons “behind the growing number of diagnoses” of autism. “According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly one percent of US children have some form of autism, 20 times higher than the rate in the 1980s.” The program interviewed clinical psychologist Catherine Lord, PhD, and Alan Zarembo, of the Los Angeles Times, the author of a series of articles called “Discovering Autism” that ran last week.
Zarembo discussed a Columbia University study that “found that if you lived very close to somebody else with the disorder, your chances of having your child diagnosed were 16 percent higher than if you lived further away.” Lord emphasized the importance of early intervention in treating children with autism to help them achieve the maximum amount of basic independence, but also mentioned that even later treatment is not without benefits.