As autism ignites a national conversation, Temple Grandin has something to say. What’s your experience working w asd kids? What is your experience working w ASD students: What challenges do you see in your position as special education teacher ?
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/autism-national-conversation-temple-grandin-rfk-rcna203641
The challenge I see is:
2000: 1 in 150
2004: 1 in 125
2008: 1 in 88
2012: 1 in 68
2018: 1 in 44
2020: 1 in 36
2025?
2030?
Why did the numbers go up?
-Increased public awareness
-Advances in diagnostic capabilities and practices
-schools and clinics can evaluate
-Broader diagnostic criteria; Pervasive Developmental Disorder or PPD and Asperger’s were dropped in2013 (?) as separate and distinct diagnosis and now both are considered part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis.
-increased access to health care (for screening /assessments /treatment) w the expansion of Medicaid and ACA (both of which will be decimated in this billionaire bill)
- don’t forget that pediatricians routinely screen now, since 2007 whereas they did not before. Pediatricians actually screen at 12 mo and 24 mo.
There was a study at Rutgers that found that in New York and New Jersey, the share of 8-year-olds diagnosed with autism who did NOT have intellectual disabilities rose more sharply than the share of those who do — a fivefold increase from 2000 to 2016, compared to a twofold increase. I think the merging of PDD and Asperger’s into the ASD diagnostic criteria accounts for a big piece of this rise
It's important to note that the rise in autism diagnoses does not necessarily indicate an actual increase in the prevalence of the condition. Rather, it reflects improvements in detection, awareness, diagnostic criteria, etc.
I also think that when the school can evaluate as well, there will be an increase in diagnosis. ADHD too