When asked the question of if I think autism is becoming a more prevalent disability often I

say no, that I believe that as we team more about the diagnosis it is more noticeable to the
general public and therefore more children are screened and tested for autism there had been
in the past. I believe that, compared to even a decade ago, the general public is now able to
pick out autistic traits in people that in another time may have just meant a person was quirky.
For instance, before my son was diagnosed with autism I wasn't sure what he was dealing with
but knew he had many "problems". He had a massive speech delay, he had many sensory
issues such as smells, tastes, and textures, he struggled a lot when plans or routines changed
and he just didn't play the way other kids did. Yet I never thought it was autism because at that
time (around 8 years ago). I'm not even sure what that diagnosis entailed. My husband has 2
sisters with autism but they acted so differently to my son that it wasn't even on my radar. But,
as I learned more about the disorder I can see the traits in others such as when I met my
husband bust thought he had a list of odd "quirks" but since between having sisters and a son
with autism ,it is not impossible that he is autistic as well and those quirks are how his autism
manifests.

The diagnosis of autism has drastically increased in recent years, but experts say the
prevalence hasn't really increased. They believe the uptick in diagnoses are due to other
factors, not necessarily an actual increase in autism. Currently autism diagnoses are at a rate of
1 in 54 in 2020, up from 1 in 68 in 2016 and 1 in 166 in 2004 (CDC Estimate on Autism
Prevalence Increases by Nearly 10 Percent, to 1 in 54 Children in the U.S., 2020). Experts say
that this data leads to the idea that prior to a change in diagnostic criteria people that may have
been historically diagnosed as intellectually impaired are now being labeled as autistic. Data
seems to correlate with this claim. Between 2000 and 2010, diagnoses in the category of autism
more than tripled from 93624 to close to 420,000. Yet the diagnosis of intellectual disabilities fell
from 637,270 to 457,478 a decrease in almost 180,000 cases over that time (Cornwall, 2015). It
seems to me that while we gain knowledge about all disorders we can effectively manage the
needs of the child, and get better diagnostic criteria.

CDC estimate on autism prevalence increases by nearly 10 percent, to 1 in 54

children in the U.S. (2020, March 26). Autism Speaks. Retrieved July 4, 2022, from
https://www.autismspeaks.org/press-release/cdc-estimate-autism-prevalence-
increases-nearly-10-percent-1-54-children-us

Cornwall, W. (2015, July 22). Science.Org. Retrieved July 4, 2022, from

https://www.science.org/content/article/autism-rates-are-it-really-rise