The AP (4/19, Sherman) reports, “As autism diagnoses become increasingly common, health officials have wondered how many” children in the US “have relatively mild symptoms and how many have more serious symptoms, such as very low IQ and inability to speak.” Now, “a first-of-its-kind study…shows the rate of such ‘profound’ autism is rising, though far slower than milder autism cases.” The study revealed that “the rate of profound diagnoses grew from about three cases per 1,000 children in 2000 to about five cases per 1,000 in 2016,” whereas “the rate of kids diagnosed with milder forms of autism grew from 4 per 1,000 to 14 per 1,000 over those years.”
According to HealthDay (4/19, Murez), “For the new report, the CDC analyzed 2000-2016 data from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network for more than 20,000 children aged eight with autism,” also finding that “children with profound autism were more likely to be female, from racial and ethnic minority groups, of low socioeconomic status, born preterm or with low birth weight, and have self-injurious behaviors and seizure disorders.” The findings were published online April 19 in the journal Public Health Reports.
Related Links:
— “Study: Milder autism far outpacing ‘profound’ diagnoses “Mike Stobbe, AP , April 19, 2023