Autism Increases In The United States, 1992-93 to 2001-02

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?         Autism Increases In The United States, 1992-93 to 2001-02

?         The following is taken from the official State statistics produced by the Department of Education in the United States, for numbers of children aged 6-21 served by IDEA (Individuals With Disabilities Discrimination Act) who have autism. It compares the increase over the nine years between 1992-93 and 2001-02: 

State

1992-1993

2001-2002

Percentage Increase

Alabama

68

904

        (almost infinite)

Alaska

8

223

        (almost infinite)

Arizona

199

1,348

577%

Arkansas

30

774

        (almost infinite)

California

1,605

13,257

726%

Colorado

14

538

        (almost infinite)

Connecticut

164

1,470

796%

Delaware

15

294

        (almost infinite)

District of Columbia

0

144

                   (infinite)

Florida

582

4,328

644%

Georgia

262

2,462

840%

Hawaii

52

380

631%

Idaho

39

356

813%

Illinois

5

3,802

       (almost infinite)

Indiana

273

3,262

1,095%

Iowa

67

554

727%

Kansas

74

743

904%

Kentucky

38

1,022

        (almost infinite)

Louisiana

409

1,297

217

Maine

37

552

1,392

Maryland

28

2,396

        (almost infinite)

Massachusetts

493

2,681

444%

Michigan

288

4,719

1,539%

Minnesota

296

3,270

1,005%

Mississippi

0

461

                   (infinite)

Missouri

336

1,953

481%

Montana

20

197

885%

Nebraska

4

415

        (almost infinite)

Nevada

5

518

        (almost infinite)

New Hampshire

0

404

                   (infinite)

New Jersey

446

3,526

691%

New Mexico

16

265

        (almost infinite)

New York

1,648

7,023

326%

North Carolina

786

3,095

294%

North Dakota

9

144

        (almost infinite)

Ohio

22

3,057

        (almost infinite)

Oklahoma

31

785

        (almost infinite)

Oregon

37

2,847

        (almost infinite)

Pennsylvania

346

3,969

1,047%

Puerto Rico

266

518

95%

Rhode Island

19

384

        (almost infinite)

South Carolina

141

1,012

618%

South Dakota

36

250

594%

Tennessee

304

1,103

263%

Texas

1,444

7,099

392%

Utah

105

723

589%

Vermont

6

248

        (almost infinite)

Virginia

539

2,365

339%

Washington

476

1,972

314%

West Virginia

101

374

270%

Wisconsin

18

2,247

        (almost infinite)

Wyoming

15

117

680%

Total

12,222

97,847

+701% overall

 (Source: Individuals With Disabilities Education Act data, US Department of Education. Note: Where increases are from a very low base figure, these have been expressed as “almost infinite”.)  

?         For every US case in the IDEA database there was in 1993, there are now eight.  

?         The detailed 2002 MIND study by Byrd et al proved that the California increases were not ascribable to either better recognition or greater awareness, nor to in-migration. This could be reasonably expected to be the case in other States, too. 

?         It seems obvious that the US has an autism epidemic. The UK has a very similar health regime to the US, so it also seems reasonable to conclude that the UK probably has an autism epidemic, too, but just hasn’t yet realised it. The Department of Education in London has even argued strongly against collecting data on children with autism.  

?         There is now a growing acceptance in the US that the IDEA figures should be a source of deep concern, marking a dramatic increase in a very short period.

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