Is anyone else troubled by the alarming increase in kids being diagnosed with autism, ADHD or ADD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or Attention Deficit Disorder)? These problems were virtually unheard of when I was growing up and now I know so many people with these conditions or whose child or children suffer from them. The first time I think I heard of autism was when I was in high school and found out that my high school band teacher's young son had just been diagnosed with it. A year or 2 after I graduated my band teacher quit because his second son was also diagnosed with autism and he wanted to spend more time with them & helping to find treatment for them.
There was a new study just released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which gives some troubling statistics. Out of 14 states that were that were recently studied, Utah had the highest rate of autism. In Utah, 1 in every 79 boys is diagnosed with it!! Overall in Utah, the rate is 1 in every 133 children!! Utah's rate of autism is 20 times higher today than just two decades ago!! (Deseret Morning News Editorial)
What is going on?? Why isn't more time and research being devoted to try and find the cause(s) of this brain disorder??
I have been concerned about these conditions for several years and whenever there is another article or study published, or I hear of another person I know being diagnosed with one of these conditions, my concern increases. Most researchers agree that there are most likely multiple factors contributing to the increase in autism (one of which is better detection and better reporting - but that certainly can't explain a 20 fold increase).
There have been a lot of theories discussed:
- childhood vaccines
- a specific gene in the DNA
- decrease in maternal bonding immediately following birth
- too much T.V. in the first few years of life
- drugs administered during pregnancy & childbirth
- rhogam shots given to Rh- mothers during pregnancy & immediately following birth
I have read a lot of interesting studies & articles on these issues and they all have some interesting points. There is also a lot of speculation that some kids are more "predisposed" to autism and that one or more of these factors might cause it to trigger in the brain. I just wish that there would be a comprehensive study conducted that could verify or rule out some of these possibilities so that we can stop this epidemic in it's tracks...
2 comments:
I just read this blog after watching the "worry in America" segment on tv tonight. I am interested if you have read anything or have competing information on what they said was the direct proportion of the decline of retardation diagnoses to the increase in Autism diagnoses. Is that right or have you read anything that competes with that. I find this topic fascinating as well.
I didn't see the show last night and I have not heard of this claim. From reading the 20/20 website a little it sounds like they are claiming that children who were previously diagnosed with retardation are now being diagnosed with autism. One interesting study that I have read looked at some Amish communities and found that there has been no increase in autism or brain disorders over the last few decades. So, what are we who live outside of the Amish communities doing differently that would account for such high rates of diagnosis among us and not among the Amish? It's definitely an intriguing and troubling topic to say the least...
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