Dec 19, 2018, Bowling Green (MO) Times: Report: Autism rates continue to rise in U.S. http://www.bowlinggreentimes.com/report-autism-rates-continue-to-rise-in-u-s/ As many as 1 in 40 U.S. children have been diagnosed with autism, showing a dramatic increase of 150 percent from 2000 when the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported the rate of diagnosis in the country was 1 in 150 children. … Researchers estimate that 1.5 million American children, ages 3 to 17, have been diagnosed with autism. … In her interview with the Bowling Green Times, [School District’s Special Education Director Janese Bibb] said that she believes the numbers reflected in the national survey and from the CDC as accurate…. In April, the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network that autism affects an estimated 1 in 59 children based on medical and educational records of thousands of 8-year-olds from across the country. Closer to home, Bibb said close to 1 out of 80 students within the Bowling Green R-I School District are currently diagnosed with autism. … “Our numbers of students who have been diagnosed with autism has increased, not dramatically, but they have increased,” Bibb said. The local school district official said that communities will likely continue to see the numbers of students or individuals diagnosed with autism continue to increase. … Dr. John Constantino of Washington University, and one of the authors of the CDC report, said he too expects to see the autism rate stay fairly steady going forward in all of the different accounting methods. If the rate of autism does continue to rise, there may need to be some change in how the disorder is defined, according to Constantino. …
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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