Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports no change in autism rates since 2014, yet experts reaffirm the importance of early diagnose for better treatment.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is thought to be a brain disorder which affects areas such as language, social behaviors, communication, and cognition. The disorder can change or variate in different ways and levels.
The first two and three years of a child’s life are critical in the detection of ASD, according to the website Autism Speaks early symptoms include:
- No big smiles or warm, joyful expressions by 6 months and older
- No back and forth sharing sounds, smiles or facial expressions by 9 months
- No babbling by 12 months
- No back and forth gestures such as pointing, showing and reaching
- No words by 16 months
- Any loss of speech, babbling or social skills at any age
A new report announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that covers years 2014 to 2016 reads that one in every 68 American children has ASD. A previous report published in 2014 (That covered years from 2010 to 2012) reads the same number. This means, no change in the data report of children with ASD.
Even though the number hasn’t changed Dr. Catherine Rice who is the director of the Emory Autism Center assures that the prevalence continues to remain higher than expected, announcing that is still too soon to state whether autism prevalence in the U.S is stabilizing.
According to Dr. Rice the data confirms that autism is a more common condition than previously thought.
“We need to use these numbers to motivate us to help address the needs in the community,” said Dr. Rice in a statement to CNN.
Autism speakers assure that this data only confirms the importance of research on this disease, to better understand it and hope for more accuaire treatment.
Percentage of the rates explained by Dr. Rice, assure that around 87% of the children later diagnosed with ASD, showed symptoms around the first three years of their lives. But only 43% of them received clinical evaluations in their first three years.
These percentages play a key role in the understanding of the importance of early treatment, but this can only be possible if parents are aware of ASD symptoms and are willing to evaluate their child in the first critical years.
The director of public health research, Michael Rosanoff, at the website Autism Speaks, says “Almost 90% of children with ASD have an indication of developmental concern by age 3, and less than half of them are getting an evaluation,” as reported by CNN.
The president of the Autism Science foundation, Alison Singer assures that the rates are disappointing given the fact, that a large campaign on early detection of ASD has been made in the last few years.
The study also showed that ethnic children are less likely to be diagnosed with ASD while white children tend to be the prevalent numbers in the rates.
Source : CNN