Autism Rates in Children Increased 30 Percent Since 2012: 1 in 68 Kids

The latest data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that one in every 68 children has autism, which is up from every one in 88 children back in 2012. The new statistics were released today.

The CDC report is based on the evaluation of health and educational records of all 8-year-old children in Alabama, Wisconsin, Colorado, Missouri, Georgia, Arkansas, Arizona, Maryland, North Carolina, Utah, and New Jersey. Over 5,300 children were examined in this evaluation.

The newest numbers have both familiar and newer findings compared to past reports. Males are still more likely to have a form of autism-spectrum disorder (ASD), with the disease occurring in 1 out of 42 boys. They're 4.5 times more likely to have it than girls. In addition, children are still being diagnosed late. The average age for diagnosis is just above four years, but autism can be identified by the time a child is two years old.

However, an increased number of autistic children possess average to above-average intellectual ability. Nearly half of the children had an IQ of 85 or above, an increase from one-third of children a decade ago. Scientists and doctors believe that an emphasis needs to be made for diagnoses, because the trajectory of treatment can be more effective if children are diagnosed at a younger age.

The CDC report is based on data from 2010 involving children who were born in 2002. Back in 2002, the autism rate was 1 in every 150 children. In just ten years that number has ballooned to 1 in every 68 children. It's likely that the 2012 numbers that will be released in 2016 are going to be higher as well.

But this does not mean that autism is more prevalent among children. Yes, that is a likely possibility, but Colleen Boyle, the Director of the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, believes that increased awareness regarding autism-spectrum disorders is contributing to the diagnoses. Years ago, many ASD patients would go undiagnosed and not find out about the disease until later in their life. Now that doctors are aware of ASD and its place in the medical world, perhaps more diagnoses are a result of careful examination.

Researchers from the CDC count ASD cases in 8-year-olds in various communities across the U.S. every two years. You can read more about their findings in this CNN article.