Madison, WI: Neuropsychologist sees no problem with more autism

July 31, 2024, WKOW, Madison, WI: Wellness Wednesday: What's contributing to the rise in autism

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 1 in 36 American kids is diagnosed with autism and that is up from 1 in 64 back in 2010. SSM Health neuropsychologist

Dr. Nancy Viscovich joined 27 News at 4 to talk about the reasons we are seeing rates rise and the environmental factors that could be contributing.

Anchor: Autism diagnoses are at an all-time high. The CDC says one in 36 American kids is diagnosed with autism, and that’s up from one in 64 back in 2010.

SSM Health neuropsychologist, Dr. Nancy Viscovich is here to talk about—we’re seeing more autism than ever before. . . . 

So what is causing this? Is there really an increase in autism or are we just better at diagnosing it?

Dr. Viscovich: I think there’s a lot of things that are going on. 

I do feel we’re better at diagnosing. I think that more and more people, because of increased awareness of awareness, more people are specializing and there’s a lot more training and there’s a lot more access. I think that’s a big one too.

There’s many, many more providers and even with autism providers that are now doing the testing themselves. There’s more access.

I think there’s a lot more awareness.

We also have to keep in mind that our diagnostic manual does change over the years, and so maybe 20 years ago, someone would not have met criteria, but they meet it now.

Anchor: So it’s not necessarily a bad thing that there are more cases?

Viscovich: Correct. And I think that we’re also more sensitive, so where a child might have had a lot of emotional problems, or I think of like the 4 year old who’s running under the table when too much is happening around them. We now understand that that may be part of the autism spectrum rather than just a child misbehaving.

Anchor: What are the environmental factors that may contribute to autism?

Viscovich:  A lot of the factors we don’t really know. It is very heritable, so there’s a lot of times if there’s a family member who maybe has subtle symptoms.

So it does run in families.

I think that also there are other factors like prematurity is a known risk factor for autism, and so babies thankfully, with the wonderful medicine that we have, the babies are being born at 25  weeks and living and so they’re just going to have a higher risk of autism.

Anchor: And autism can look very different from one person to the next.

What’s the best thing a parent can do when they get that diagnosis?

Viscovich: What I usually say to parents is the child who came into my office is the same child who left or who is leaving my office.

The only difference is, they’re getting a diagnosis that will open the door for a lot of intervention, and we are blessed in Wisconsin to have just an amazing system, that there’s so much support for parents.

Anchor: Especially in the Madison area. I know families who have children with autism, and there are so many resources for them and ways to keep the kids on track and be amazing resources for them.

Viscovich: And we do know that the earlier the intervention, the much better the outcome.

A lot of times it can be like from 26 to 40 hours where a provider will come into the family’s home and work with the child, the siblings the parents. Basically the family becomes a therapist and helps them to use the skills that are learned.