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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
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13

Autism Much More Common Than We Thought: CDC

New survey shows 1 in every 100 kids autistic

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(Newser) – Roughly 1 in every 91 American 8-year-olds has been diagnosed with autism, a rate significantly worse than the 1 in 150 estimated in 2007, finds a new CDC survey that will be released later this year. The study showed that autism is “an urgent public health concern,” CDC officials said, but they cautioned that the higher rate didn’t necessarily mean the disorder is growing more common.

It’s possible that it’s the ability to detect the disease has simply improved. “This has the tremendous potential to scare people,” one epidemiologist tells the Chicago Tribune. “It is very unlikely that there has been an explosive increase in the way that has been portrayed in the media.”

Autistic students participate in a program designed to develop their social skills in this file photo.
Autistic students participate in a program designed to develop their social skills in this file photo.   (AP Photo/Kim Johnson Flodin)
Elias Cazares Jr., 13, participates in a program designed to help autistic children develop social skills in this June 10, 2009 file photo.
Elias Cazares Jr., 13, participates in a program designed to help autistic children develop social skills in this June 10, 2009 file photo.   (AP Photo/Kim Johnson Flodin)
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13 comments
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jagerhans
Oct 5, 09 8:20 AM CDT
another move to issue more psychiatric drugs to those poor kids ? i can be old school but at school the teacher stomped us all the time and one day i came back home with a black eye because she hit me in the face with the ring , other times they put us on our knees for hours (it hurts bad after ten minutes) as a punishment, it was still better than being drugged. Reply
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rkossik
Oct 5, 09 8:29 AM CDT
You are a moron. They don't use "psychiatric drugs" on children with autism.
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circuitries
Oct 5, 09 11:23 AM CDT
Um. Yes, yes they do treat autistic kids with drugs: Ritalin, Adderall and Dexedrine, Clozaril, Risperdal, Zyprexa, Seroquel, Elavil, Wellbutrin, Valium, Ativan and Xanax, Prozac, Luvox, Anafranil. These are used to regulate attentiveness, aggression, serotonin, and other behavioral symptoms of autism.
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Mad
Oct 5, 09 1:31 PM CDT
Rkossik, my fellow Pastafarian, there is a whole host of medications used in conjunction with behavior modification. And Jagerhas, my fellow Newser fan, today's meds are much more therapeutic than in the past when 'psych meds' were mostly just tranquilizes. Patients can actually improve under the right treatment plan, not just walk around 'drugged'
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+3
IN RESPONSE:
rkossik
Oct 5, 09 11:43 PM CDT
circuitries and Mad, you're correct. Drugs often are used to treat various SYMPTOMS of autism, but a diagnosis of autism does not in itself encourage drugs as treatment. My post was in response to the too-common suggestion that ignorance and child abuse is a more effective remedy than understanding and treating childhood afflictions, whether the treatment involves drugs or not.
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