What is the real number for autism cases?

Question

I saw that it was 1 in every 166 births. Is that right? Does anyone knows way there is a huge increase for the past years?

Answer 1

Actually, the statistic is 2 to 6 out of 1,000, or somewhere between "1 in every 500" to "1 in every 166."

And that includes high functioning conditions such as Asperger's, which composes as much as 80% of those on the Autism Spectrum.

Asperger's is a condition which likely has been around for years, just undiagnosed. They may have just been labeled "geeks" & "oddballs." They are also frequently very functional. Some suspect Bill Gates has Asperger's. And some suspect Einstein was, too!

This accounts for a big hunk of the increase. Adding Asperger's to the spectrum could have increased the diagnosis rate 4 times over! Then you take into account that many autistic kids were likely to be just diagnosed "retarded" or "brain-damaged." Remember, up until the 80's, the common theory was that autism was caused my neglectful, unloving mothers. So you didn't have parents taking their kids to the doctors saying "I think my son has autism." And if a family doctor knew the mother was loving & attentive, he would be very likely to rule out the possiblity the child could be autistic. So the rates we see from previous generations are inaccurrately low.

In other words, I suspect the rate of DIAGNOSIS, as opposed to the actual incidence rate is what has increased.

Answer 2

1 in 166, and 1 in 104 for boys. Every 1 out of 200 people in the US is on the spectrum

Answer 3

According to the ASA (Autism Society of America) that number is correct. 1 in every 166 births.

The recent celebrity push for more research may yield answers to your second question. However scientist do not yet have a cause/effect relationship that is definitive and would explain the increases.