Saw a commercial yesterday with a scary statistic....

It said 1 out of 166 children are diagnosed with autism. That seems like a lot to me. Why do you think this is? Just another statistic to worry about I guess.

Re: Saw a commercial yesterday with a scary statistic....

There are SO MANY possible reasons for this increase:

A diagnosis of autism also includes children with PDD and Asbergers.

Autism has such a broad range of symptoms. I feel that many children who are simply developmentally delayed with some autistic-like tendencies are being diagnosed with ASD so as to make treatment more available.

On the flip side, I feel the dramatic increase in cases is because autism is still considered a relatively "new" disorder. As more and more about ASD is known, it's likely that more children who would have been diagnosed as "retarded" or even emotionally disturbed are now considered autistic.

There are possibly environmental and genetic causes as well- though those have yet to be pin-pointed.

As much as I've learned about ASD- it still terrifies me. Thankfully, funding has grown considerably over the past few years and a cure or prevention might soon be found

Re: Saw a commercial yesterday with a scary statistic....

yes but there are many different forms of autism. Not always extreme.

Re: Saw a commercial yesterday with a scary statistic....

Autism scares me... I know a few people whose children have it ..and seemed perfectly fine at the beginning.
It's something I get nervous about.....Frequently!

Re: Saw a commercial yesterday with a scary statistic....

I saw that commercial also and it scared me too

Re: Saw a commercial yesterday with a scary statistic....

My young cousin was diagnosed with autism (not an extreme form), and my heart just breaks when I see what my aunt goes through. I know he'll be fine, but he needs a lot of extra care at school. I can't imagine dealing with that.