Autism knows nothing of race or ethnicity. There are no cultural or ethnic groups of people who are more affected than others by autism. However, autism is significantly more prevalent in males with a 4:1 male to female ratio (9:1 if we include Asperger’s Syndrome).

 

Today, 1 in every 110 children (1 in every 70 male children) worldwide is diagnosed with autism, which makes the disability more prevalent than diabetes, pediatric cancer, and AIDS combined. In the United States alone, the numbers show that there are approximately 1.5 million individuals (adults and children) diagnosed with autism today. Out of the four million children born in the United States each year, just about 24,000 of them will be diagnosed with autism. Studies explain that 67 children are diagnosed each day, and there are currently over 500,000 individuals under the age of eighteen in the United States affected by autism. The chart below breaks down the prevalence of autism in children in the United States by state:

 

 

 

The numbers in the United States of America are staggering, but even more impressive are some of the numbers across the globe. Because it is not as socially acceptable in many other countries to be diagnosed with a mental disorder, it is likely that some of these numbers, such as those in China, are actually even higher than these statistics shown. Here’s a closer look at some of the autism figures in some of the largest countries around the world:

 

The most haunting and misunderstood fact about autism in America as well as autism around the world is that the prevalence is growing each year. Autism is the fastest growing developmental disorder, and the prevalence of the disorder grows between 10-17% each progressive year. In the 1970’s the rate of autism in children was 1 in every 2,500-5,000 children, and now the rate is 1 in every 150. A large part of this increase may be due to changes in diagnosis and increased awareness of the disorder. People didn't understand it as well in the 1970s, and it was frequently misdiagnosed as other disorders, such as childhood schizophrenia. In addition, autism was for a brief but terrible time thought to be caused by "refrigerator mothers" being cold to their children. Thankfully, we now know that many warm and loving mothers give birth to children with autism, and its cause is much more complex and certainly has a large genetic component. If this rate or increase continues, by 2010 we can expect a population of at least 1.75 million Americans diagnosed. Is Autism becoming an epidemic? Well, all we know is that there is no clear explanation as to why the increase is taking place (Take a look at this chart).

 

Sources:

[Autism Prevalence, PublicSchoolsState Rankings, 2006-2007 School Year. < <http://www.fightingautism.org/idea/autism-state-rankings.php>]

[Facts and Statistics. < http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_whatis_factsstats>]