I recently had a interesting question proposed to me, it was “Why do you think that our states has such a high rate of Autism?” First this question led me to ask what is our states rate of Autism? Is our state’s rate higher than others? If so how much?
After some internet research, I found this chart from http://www.fightingautism.org
Click graph for a larger, clearer image
According to this chart my state, Indiana, ranks 5th in the nation for rate of Autism. According to the chart, 1 in 116 children in the Indiana public school system have Autism. What a staggering statistic! The number of children enrolled in Indiana in 2006 was 1,035,074 so that means approximately 8900 students had autism , not including private and home schools.
So what causes my state to have an autism rate that is almost 3 times higher then Colorado, Louisiana and Iowa? Air and water pollution maps don’t seem to show any correlation with the statistic of Autism.
A brilliant Neurologist that told me that diet changes couldn’t possibly help and vaccines definitely didn’t have any role in the rise of Autism. His theory, that he presented to me in his office as fact, was that “Autism rates were rising because doctors were more informed and able to diagnose autism now”. Also that Autism is caused by natural selection and genetics. So Autism just naturally selects 5 times more children in Minnesota then New Mexico? Or maybe Indiana, Minnesota and Oregon doctors are just more informed and better educated then California, New York and New Hampshire. I think New York Doctors might argue that point.
I wonder if anyone has looked at the statistics of autism and the batches of vaccines to see if there is any connection?
I would love to hear your thoughts! Add a comment!
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5 Comments
I have been thinking about this for a while. I know we have a high rate here in Maine. We also have a great early intervention system for all children through the age of 5. I’m wondering if the increased awareness of the community and within the system has something to do with the higher rate.
Greater awareness = Increased Diagnosis
Just my $.02!
Comment by Shannon O. on July 27th, 2008 @ 10:32 pmThe reason I believe is the coal plant that we use to generate electricity.
Coal releases mercury into the air.
Comment by Ron Q on August 9th, 2008 @ 10:05 amJust a thought: The chart is based on data from public schools, not necessarily actual incidence rates. In other words, there may be many more kids with autism in New Mexico (for example), who for various reasons might not be enrolled in a public school. Likewise, states like Minnesota might actually be better at diagnosing autism as a result of local, state, or federal funding. And finally, don’t forget that certain geographic areas actually attract some families dealing with autism. Here in Northern California, for example, our number of autism cases are increasing rapidly, not necessarily because there’s ’something in the water’, but because the internationally-renowned research being conducted at the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis actively draws families to the area for treatment, research, and support. Perhaps Indiana also has a strong reputation as a community willing to support those coping with autism.
Comment by schoolpsych on August 21st, 2008 @ 1:28 pmHow about “Women in Somalia take pride in breastfeeding for a year or more, but in the states and Sweden they go for bottle feeding”?
Comment by Joe Herr on October 23rd, 2008 @ 11:40 pmLine and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
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It doesn’t make a lot of sense does it?
Comment by Angela on July 20th, 2008 @ 10:34 am