Why do autism rates on Long Island vary?
August 26, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
An op-ed in today’s Newsday notes that autism rates vary widely on Long Island, and that an accurate count is necessary to best plan and provide services. The highest rate (13 autistic students per 1,000) in Nassau County is found in Roslyn; in Valley Stream, the lowest rate among districts that report cases is in Valley Stream, with one student per 1,000. In Suffolk County, the rate in the Half Hollow Hills school district is 14.5 students per 1,000, while the lowest is in Brentwood, with two students per 1,000.
Newsday cites these possible factors for the varying rates:
The discrepancies in reporting raise questions that have no easy answers: Do parents and school officials in some districts have a better knowledge of the range of symptoms that appear in the spectrum of autistic disorders? Do parents in some districts resort to more pediatric care, with better and earlier diagnoses of autism? When neighboring districts show such disparities, faulty reporting seems the likeliest explanation.
What’s indisputable is that Long Island schools have reported overall increases. Nassau County reported an overall number of 1,255 autistic students in 2006, an increase of 154 from the previous year. In Suffolk, schools reported a total of 1,750 autistic students, a rise of 168. All together, annual increases in Long Island schools range from 10 to 20 percent a year.
As possible causes, “genetic mutation theories” (about the age of parents) and “environmental culprits” are cited as reasons for the differences between regions. Cultural factors and the varying economic status of the regions (Roslyn is a very wealthy town; Half Hollow Hills is also “pricey“) might also play a role.
…Cultural factors and the varying economic status of the regions (Roslyn is a very wealthy town; Half Hollow Hills is also “pricey“) might also play a role.
I would like to see some research into this, as I suspect that cultural and economic factors play more than a minor role in differences in autism rates.
Joe
Roslyn was in the news in the past due to an embezzlement scandal involving the superintendent—the extent of the district’s financial resources was out in the open in news stories.
“I would like to see some research into this, as I suspect that cultural and economic factors play more than a minor role in differences in autism rates.”
To be picky, that would be differences in rates of autism ascertainment. The actual rates of autism probably don’t vary that much. I’m not entirely guessing on that, plus I haven’t seen studies where they fully screen different populations in their entirety in some fairly objective (comparable) way and then say, aha! there really is a difference in autism rates.
You might find some references in the science, but not much. The CDDS data has a wealth of information that can be used to make these sorts of comparisons.
You’re right, Joseph. What I meant to say was that I felt that differences in cultural and economic factors resulted in there being more than a minor difference in recorded autism rates in different communities.
I, too, suspect that the actual prevalence rate of autism is fairly constant across different populations. Grinker’s work seems to support this, but I think that more studies need to be done in order to identify “best practices” in identifying and assisting autistics in the community as a whole.
Regards,
Joe
Grinker’s work illustrates that rates are completely determined by both chronological and geographic culture. The rate will rarely, if ever, be universally equivalent.
Any chance that the rates in autism compare with the rates of cell phone use in the particular areas cited? Just asking.
Anybody look into the type of programs offered by the districts for students with autism and the number of families who have moved into those districts for that reason?