It’s April 15th, halfway through Autism Awareness Month 2008, and you’ve surely heard more than a few mentions about the supposed “autism epidemic” that we’re currently facing, and musings about what is causing the recent rise in the prevalence rate of autism: In the 1960s, autism was considered a rare disorder that occurred in only about 3 in every 10,000 children; now the prevalence rate for autism is, according to the most recent figures released on February 8, 2007, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 150 among children in the United States. And in New Jersey, …read more

Researchers are “confident” that it will become “routine to diagnose autism for children just 18 months old and sometimes even younger” after a five-year study to be conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, the University of California-Davis and the University of Washington. A total of 108 children between the ages of 12-24 months who have “symptoms of autism” will be enrolled in the study, the University of Michigan notes. The researchers in the study include Catherine Lord, University of Michigan professor of psychology, psychiatry and pediatrics, and director of the U-M Autism and Communication Disorders Center, and UC …read more