Comments on: Minnesota Has the Highest Autism Rate?: Depends on How You Count It

By: Regan

Regan — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:45:58 +0000

Just ran across this in our news this PM,

“…Autism: Oregonians worried about having the highest autism rates in America are in good company. Residents of New Jersey and Minnesota have also worried in recent years about holding that title.

That’s because no one knows just how many kids in the U.S. have autism. And there’s no reason to think the rates vary dramatically from state to state. Most studies looking at geography and autism have been inconclusive, said Darryn Sikora, director of the autism program at OHSU’s Child Development and Rehabilitation Center. The best study, conducted in 2002, looked at 8-year-olds from cities in 14 states and estimated one in 150 had an autism spectrum disorder. The highest rate was found in New Jersey, but researchers looked at only four counties there. Those numbers weren’t meant to compare states.

Oregon’s autism claim, like Minnesota’s, is based not on medicine but on education policy. To provide special education services, schools must designate students as having an eligible condition. Many states, including Washington, require medical assessment in this process. Oregon does not — and so has roughly twice the rate of kids labeled autistic as Washington, Sikora said.

The state’s heavy educational labeling causes problems, Sikora said. Her clinic often sees kids labeled as autistic who actually have other conditions. Such misdiagnoses may keep children from getting proper treatments. At the same time, kids labeled as autistic who don’t actually have autism sometimes keep kids who are truly autistic from getting needed services.

– Andy Dworkin
Story: Fact or fiction: Is Oregon killing you?
The Oregonian

By: Regan

Regan — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:01:16 +0000

Iola,
Thanks for highlighting the lag between the cohort being reported and the issued report.
I suspect where this will be interesting is as more data is collected, to give a better handle on both prevalence and incidence.
Even the CDC themselves say within the report that the average number given should not be generally applied beyond the actual study sampling within the ADDM network, at this time.

By: Unlike Measles, Autism is Not a Potentially Fatal Disease

Unlike Measles, Autism is Not a Potentially Fatal Disease — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:45:10 +0000

[...] has a comment about Minnesota having the highest autism rate. Tags: asd, asperger, autism, autism blog, disabilities blog, disability, green, Health, [...]

By: lola

lola — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:54:16 +0000

But it is a 2007 report-. The *study* is from 2002. This *is* an important distinction statistically— especially when the concern is the number is rising.
The Minnesota, Oregon, and Utah data is newer. (Note: The studies can’t be compared apples to apples, however, as each state had their own criteria for diagnosing autism.)

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:58:12 +0000

Yes, the 2007 study has the most recent prevalence rate, the 1 in 150 figure (an average):

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/addm.htm

By: lola

lola — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:55:34 +0000

I believe that CDC reported in 2007 on the 2002 study of 8 year olds (1994 birth cohort). The CDC has not done a more recent study, as far as I know. So, the 1 in 150 is actually not a particularly “up to date” bit of data.
Here is an excerpt from Medscape (http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/551923)

Autism Prevalence

The report tracks the prevalence (number of cases) of autism spectrum disorder cases in 407,578 children in 14 U.S. communities who were 8 years old in 2002.

The communities are in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

The study identified 2,685 children in those communities as having an autism spectrum disorder.

Those children’s school or health care records either showed an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis or “unusual social behaviors consistent with an ASD [autism spectrum disorder],” the CDC report says.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 06:02:00 +0000

StarTrib’s article overlapped much with the earlier one from MinnPost.com….. from our experience, school nurses would be a less than ideal choice.

By: C. S. Wyatt

C. S. Wyatt — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:59:18 +0000

The StarTrib has an article on the Somali-autism issue. They also mention that Minnesota is one of the few states allowing schools to classify students as autistic — not just for school services, but for general social services, as well.

Now, I realize most schools have trained personnel (my mother is an autism aide / special education support in a California school), but should school nurses be deciding who gets social services?

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:38:33 +0000

This study? Gurney, et al. Analysis of Prevalence Trends
of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Minnesota.

@mayfly,
I remember you wrote awhile back about your daughter leanring to siwm—this is exciting!

Though I have to say, Charlie’s swimming ability continues to far exceed his learning in other areas.

By: Albert

Albert — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:03:40 +0000

In addition to Laidler, Gurney did a study in Minnesota (yes, MN, the same state this post was about) showing jumps in autism classifications in the schools at ages 11, 13 and 15! Now, no one is suddenly getting autism at age 15. Autism, by definition, emerges by age 3. The school system is adding autism programs and people are being placed there, where before they might have been placed elsewhere, or (for many) not placed in any special ed. program. Remember that the school classifications are just classifications. Schools don’t need any kind of professional diagnostic assessment to classify someone under “autism.”