So, if the autism rate is a creation of better diagnosis, where are all the undiagnosed autistics from past decades? They must be everywhere, right? Look around your office or hometown -- how many do you see or know over age 20?
Take me, for example. I have two children with autism. A man in the next pod over has an autistic son. The supervisor two pods in the other direction has an autistic nephew. A supervisor nearby has a child with an autism spectrum disorder. My wife's best friend from her youth has an autistic son. So does one of my friends -- two children in his family. My last boss has an autistic son. Two families in my neighborhood are struggling with autism spectrum disorders. Two families in my small church are struggling with the same. There are about six children in my daughter's kindergarten class with spectrum disorders with more coming next year.
Now, how many kids did I know in high school who fit the autism profile -- maybe one, undiagnosed of course. Or, he might have just been very shy.
This is an item from the Huffington Post...
The Boys on the Bus
Posted November 5, 2007
By Kim Stagliano
My kids get door-to-door pickup service to their public schools. It's one of the "perks" of having autism. Remember the old jokes about riding the "short bus"? Not so funny anymore. On one of the two buses that stop at my house, I see three boys in the windows. Boy #1 is a good looking kid. He also has the telltale facial traits of Down syndrome. He sits tall, alert, and looks out the window at the world. When I wave to him he returns the gesture. His smile could light up a Broadway stage. He greets my daughter as she mounts the stairs. I call him "The Mayor."
Boys #2 and 3 are typical looking kids, blond, also handsome. They sit hunched over with their faces contorted, eyes squeezed shut and their fingers in their ears, blocking out the world as if in pain. If they happen to glance at me, they cringe and turn away instantly. (I haven't always had that affect on boys, in case you're wondering.) Boys #2 and 3 have autism.
You simply can't mistake their autism for anything else. It doesn't look like intellectual disabilities, DS, cerebral palsy, or any other category of disability. And yet the drums are beating in the national media (again) to tell you that there is no autism epidemic, simply better diagnosis. Or to promote this offensive explanation for the skyrocketing numbers of kids with autism: parents clamor for the diagnosis in order to get school services. Sure, blame the greedy parents! "I'll take reading, writing, 'rithmatic, a one-on-one aide, OT and Speech and a couple of those naked lady tees please."
In my household, autism is an epidemic. We're the New England Patriots of autism. 3 and "Oh!" (Our three daughters have autism.)
Along with telling us there is no epidemic of autism, a major push is on for two pediatric autism screenings by age two. That confuses the heck out of me. Doctors are already so good at diagnosis that we've gone from CDC stats of 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 150 in twenty five years. Is there a prize if we get to 1 in 50 kids?
I'm not sure the pediatricians are ready to take on the "two by two" challenge. They have not been trained in the neurobiological symptoms of autism. After all, autism is classified as a psychiatric/behavioral disorder, even in 2007. I asked hundreds of parents how helpful their pediatrician had been as they sought answer for their kids. Their answers were disheartening. The majority said that their pediatrician was an impediment to getting a diagnosis.
For instance, when a parent expressed concern that her child had regressed in speech and started chewing his clothing voraciously, "There's nothing wrong with him. He's just not a dummy, like most kids. He's worried about the world." To the Mother whose child couldn't sit up at 12 months, "She's a late bloomer." Another gem, "Do you see the way his eyes follow this block? That proves he doesn't have autism." To a mother whose child wasn't clapping by 12 months, "If he does have autism there's nothing you can do about it."
Here's my personal favorite. "I've never heard of a family with more than one child with autism." That's what my pediatrician told me in 1998 when I expressed concerns about my second child's lack of speech. He was in his mid-forties and affiliated with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, one of the most respected hospitals in the nation.
I believe my old pediatrician. I'm sure he had never run across a family like mine. Because I don't think we existed. The epidemic is real. It's here. The faces of those boys on the bus tell me so.
Showing posts with label Autism rate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Autism rate. Show all posts
10.19.2007
Autism rates in public schools
An eye-opening piece from Rescue Post yesterday on the rate of autism. This is a repost from the Rescue Post item.
October 18, 2007
Why the Department of Education Can’t Count
By Kent Heckenlively, Esq.
When journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were pursuing the Watergate scandal which eventually brought down President Nixon they were advised to “follow the money.” Or as my friend the Stanford economist says, “The truth is usually revealed when you find where people spend their money.”
I was considering these ideas when I came across some data from the U. S. Department of Education about the number of autistic children in public schools. The question of whether there’s actually an epidemic of autism is a controversial topic for many medical and educational professionals.
One of the more persistent critics of using data from the U. S. Department of Education has been Dr. Morton Ann Gernsbacher, a professor at the University of Madison-Wisconsin and President of the American Psychological Society. In an interview with Dr. Laurie Barclay and published in 2005 Dr. Gernsbacher laid out three reasons why the numbers from the Department of Education are not to be trusted.
First, the data is a count of only the children served, not all the children who meet the diagnostic criteria. Second, the criteria under which children will receive services may vary from state to state and across time. Third, the child count data for autism only began to be collected after the 1991-1992 school year.
I thought of my own initiation into the autism controversy when my daughter was three-years-old and in addition to having her seizure disorder and not developing normally was diagnosed with autism. At the time the therapy of choice was Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and it came with a hefty price tag, roughly two thousand a week. Adding to that were the other professions of speech, physical, and occupational therapy playing their role, and her price-tag for our school district was about a hundred and fifty thousand a year.
When we moved to a new school district and we tried a different therapeutic approach we were able to significantly cut the cost, but were still asking the school district to shell out a good seventy-five thousand a year.
Like you and me, the school districts are not interested in paying out that kind of money. I find it difficult to believe school districts could be railroaded into spending the sums of money required by our children if there wasn’t an overwhelming need.
George Orwell once wrote, “Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.” Before we decide to dismiss the Department of Education numbers, let’s see what they actually are, starting with the three largest states, the three smallest states, then the country as a whole from the time the records began to be collected, in comparison to the present day.
In California in 1992-1993 there were 1,605 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 31,077.
In New York in 1992-1993 there were 1,648 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 13,951.
In Texas in 1992-1993 there were 1,444 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 16,801.
In Wyoming, the smallest state by population, in 1992-1993 there were 15 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 279.
In Alaska in 1992-1993 there were 8 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 454.
In Vermont in 1992-1993 there were 6 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 328.
In the United States in 1992-1993 there were 12,222 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. (That’s about the current size of the small town in California in which I grew up.) In 2006-2007 there were 224,415. (Curiously, that’s a little more than the population of Madison, Wisconsin where Dr. Gernsbacher teaches as a professor at the University.)
When Vaccine Autoimmune Project/ founder Ray Gallup looked at these numbers with Dr. Edward Yazbak, they concluded that the most current autism prevalence among our children is not 1 in 150, but closer to 1 in 67.
Let’s look at this in terms of dollars and cents. I know at seventy-five thousand dollars a year, my daughter is a big-ticket item. Let’s cut that to an average of twenty-five thousand per autistic child per year and play around with the numbers, shall we?
In 1992-1992 if we used those numbers we would come up with a cost to our education system of a little over three hundred million, adjusted for today’s dollars. In 2006-2007 that number would be more than five and a half billion dollars.
The truth is found when you discover where people spend their money. If our public schools are wasting more than five billion dollars a year when they don’t have to, why are we letting them educate our children?
I’ll bet the Department of Education believes their numbers. They listen to teachers and principals on the front lines, not psychologists and professors in ivory towers.Kent Heckenlively has worked as an attorney, television producer, and is now a beloved science teacher.
October 18, 2007
Why the Department of Education Can’t Count
By Kent Heckenlively, Esq.
When journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were pursuing the Watergate scandal which eventually brought down President Nixon they were advised to “follow the money.” Or as my friend the Stanford economist says, “The truth is usually revealed when you find where people spend their money.”
I was considering these ideas when I came across some data from the U. S. Department of Education about the number of autistic children in public schools. The question of whether there’s actually an epidemic of autism is a controversial topic for many medical and educational professionals.
One of the more persistent critics of using data from the U. S. Department of Education has been Dr. Morton Ann Gernsbacher, a professor at the University of Madison-Wisconsin and President of the American Psychological Society. In an interview with Dr. Laurie Barclay and published in 2005 Dr. Gernsbacher laid out three reasons why the numbers from the Department of Education are not to be trusted.
First, the data is a count of only the children served, not all the children who meet the diagnostic criteria. Second, the criteria under which children will receive services may vary from state to state and across time. Third, the child count data for autism only began to be collected after the 1991-1992 school year.
I thought of my own initiation into the autism controversy when my daughter was three-years-old and in addition to having her seizure disorder and not developing normally was diagnosed with autism. At the time the therapy of choice was Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and it came with a hefty price tag, roughly two thousand a week. Adding to that were the other professions of speech, physical, and occupational therapy playing their role, and her price-tag for our school district was about a hundred and fifty thousand a year.
When we moved to a new school district and we tried a different therapeutic approach we were able to significantly cut the cost, but were still asking the school district to shell out a good seventy-five thousand a year.
Like you and me, the school districts are not interested in paying out that kind of money. I find it difficult to believe school districts could be railroaded into spending the sums of money required by our children if there wasn’t an overwhelming need.
George Orwell once wrote, “Sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.” Before we decide to dismiss the Department of Education numbers, let’s see what they actually are, starting with the three largest states, the three smallest states, then the country as a whole from the time the records began to be collected, in comparison to the present day.
In California in 1992-1993 there were 1,605 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 31,077.
In New York in 1992-1993 there were 1,648 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 13,951.
In Texas in 1992-1993 there were 1,444 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 16,801.
In Wyoming, the smallest state by population, in 1992-1993 there were 15 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 279.
In Alaska in 1992-1993 there were 8 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 454.
In Vermont in 1992-1993 there were 6 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. In 2006-2007 there were 328.
In the United States in 1992-1993 there were 12,222 autistic children between the ages of 6-21 as counted by the U. S. Department of Education. (That’s about the current size of the small town in California in which I grew up.) In 2006-2007 there were 224,415. (Curiously, that’s a little more than the population of Madison, Wisconsin where Dr. Gernsbacher teaches as a professor at the University.)
When Vaccine Autoimmune Project/ founder Ray Gallup looked at these numbers with Dr. Edward Yazbak, they concluded that the most current autism prevalence among our children is not 1 in 150, but closer to 1 in 67.
Let’s look at this in terms of dollars and cents. I know at seventy-five thousand dollars a year, my daughter is a big-ticket item. Let’s cut that to an average of twenty-five thousand per autistic child per year and play around with the numbers, shall we?
In 1992-1992 if we used those numbers we would come up with a cost to our education system of a little over three hundred million, adjusted for today’s dollars. In 2006-2007 that number would be more than five and a half billion dollars.
The truth is found when you discover where people spend their money. If our public schools are wasting more than five billion dollars a year when they don’t have to, why are we letting them educate our children?
I’ll bet the Department of Education believes their numbers. They listen to teachers and principals on the front lines, not psychologists and professors in ivory towers.Kent Heckenlively has worked as an attorney, television producer, and is now a beloved science teacher.
10.17.2007
Autism cluster found in New Jersey school
For our autism education today, this is an interesting article from The Record in New Jersey about a cluster of autism cases found in one school. The article reports the study found of 24 school staffers, 57 percent of their children were diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders and 24 percent were diagnosed with autism. Read more.
The Record
Autism study hints at school cluster
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
By KAREN SUDOL, STAFF WRITER
A research study has found a possible autism cluster among children of teachers who worked at a Northvale school.
"While we cannot yet determine the cause of these findings, we can say for certain today that the prevalence of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders ... is statistically significantly higher," said study leader Dr. Lawrence D. Rosen.
The study's task force will now look at environmental factors at St. Anthony's that could have caused rates of autism and other learning disorders to be higher than state or national levels.
"Whether the building is contributing is speculation," said Rosen, also the medical adviser for the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology at Hackensack University Medical Center, which initiated the study.
The findings released Tuesday were based on interviews with 24 school staff members who came forward after 500 letters were mailed to present and past employees. Rosen said he doesn't know the total number of teachers with children who have worked at the school during the past 10 years but that he wants to interview all of them.
Read the rest at The Record.
The Record
Autism study hints at school cluster
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
By KAREN SUDOL, STAFF WRITER
A research study has found a possible autism cluster among children of teachers who worked at a Northvale school.
"While we cannot yet determine the cause of these findings, we can say for certain today that the prevalence of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders ... is statistically significantly higher," said study leader Dr. Lawrence D. Rosen.
The study's task force will now look at environmental factors at St. Anthony's that could have caused rates of autism and other learning disorders to be higher than state or national levels.
"Whether the building is contributing is speculation," said Rosen, also the medical adviser for the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology at Hackensack University Medical Center, which initiated the study.
The findings released Tuesday were based on interviews with 24 school staff members who came forward after 500 letters were mailed to present and past employees. Rosen said he doesn't know the total number of teachers with children who have worked at the school during the past 10 years but that he wants to interview all of them.
Read the rest at The Record.
10.06.2007
How schools handle autistic students
This will be happening everywhere, soon. It is in our suburban Pittsburgh school and I know of it happening in others.
10/05/07 By Phyllis MooreRead the rest at the News-Argus Web site.
Public schools respond to rise in autism
Goldsboro News Argus, NC10/05/07 By Phyllis Moore
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism over the last decade and with it, the need to provide specialized teachers, Wayne County Public Schools officials say.
The once-rare disorder is becoming more prevalent across the country.
Some experts believe heightened awareness is prompting parents to have their children tested. Others attribute the rise to the fact that the definition of the autism spectrum has expanded.
Autism encompasses a wide range of behaviors and learning abilities -- from nonverbal and non-communicative students to children who are very talkative and adapt comfortably to a regular classroom.
Since schools are required to provide an equal education to all students, and fewer parents are opting to place their children in private or specialized schools, public schools are having to keep pace with the burgeoning need.
"It's plain and simple -- every child is entitled to a free and appropriate education," said Dr. Craig McFadden, assistant superintendent for accountability and student services for Wayne County Public Schools. "Whatever needs a child comes with, we're charged with meeting those needs, and not just for autism."
Currently, the district serves 2,872 students categorized as "exceptional children," which range from developmentally delayed and emotionally handicapped to hearing impaired and severely/profoundly mentally handicapped. Of those, 158 students are classified as autistic.
That number has quadrupled over the last decade. In 1998, out of the 2,553 exceptional children, 43 were deemed autistic. That number jumped to 83 in 2003, to 127 in 2003 and has gradually risen since.
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