Autism on the rise in CA – and not because we’re counting better

Autism in California is on the rise. It used to be fewer than nine children in 10,000 were diagnosed. Today the number is more than 44 in 10,000.

What caused the rapid increase? Some thought the numbers were affected by more awareness, improved surveillance, and earlier assessment and diagnosis. Others argued it was because milder forms of autism were counted or because  families with autistic children were migrating to California.

A study by researchers at UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has found that the seven-to-eight fold increase in California can’t be explained by the changes in how autism is diagnosed or counted. Results of the study suggested that research should change focus from genetics to the host of chemicals and infectious microbes in the environment.

“It’s time to start looking for the environmental culprits responsible for the remarkable increase in the rate of autism in California,” said UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto, a professor of environmental and occupational health and epidemiology and an internationally respected autism researcher. …

“Right now, about 10 to 20 times more research dollars are spent on studies of the genetic causes of autism than on environmental ones. We need to even out the funding,” Hertz-Picciotto said.

While researchers are looking into the cause … what is going to happen to these kids when they become adults?

“These children are now moving toward adulthood, and a sizeable percentage of them have not developed the life skills that would allow them to live independently,” she said.

The question for the state of California, Hertz-Picciotto said, will become: “What happens to them when their parents cannot take care of them?”

Read the full news release here.