Report: New Jersey’s autism rate is the highest in the U.S.
MARCH 27, 2014, 1:25 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2014, 4:34 PM
BY BARBARA WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Autism rates continue to rise sharply across the nation, with New Jersey now reporting the highest rates in the country – one in 45 children here are diagnosed with some form of the developmental disability, though federal officials said they are unsure if that is due to better screening methods or an actual uptick in cases.
Nationally, autism rates have risen 30 percent since 2012, the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. One in every 68 children in the United States – nearly 1.2 million children under 21 years old – are estimated to have the disorder.
Boys are hit especially hard with the condition — one in 28 boys in New Jersey and one in 42 nationally are on the autism spectrum, the report showed.
“The rate among boys in New Jersey is over 3 percent,” said Walter Zahorodny, the director of the New Jersey autism study and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. “A population with 3 percent of the boys having this is frightening. Some children do improve but many, many CQ don’t have a typical life.”
For the CDC study, researchers looked at community records, and in most cases, the educational records, of 8-year-olds in 11 states, including those from four counties in New Jersey. Experts say eight is the age when autism is most prevalent.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/report-new-jersey-s-autism-rate-is-the-highest-in-the-u-s-1.752693#sthash.qAII2vkx.dpuf
I think that it is a combination of better screening and the fact that NJ has some of the best programs for Autistic children. We spend a lot and get good results. If you have a child with this life-long illness you will want to live in a town with the best services.
There are some states that offer very little in the way of services and they are not screening for the illness at a young enough age.
It’s all those vaccines. Wake up sheeple.
Excuse me for a moment, I need to go comfort my child who is dying of an easily preventable disease.
Anyone who believes that vaccines cause autism goes to the Dierdre Imus school of medicine.
Anyone who believes vaccines cause autism has never been within 10 miles of a reputable institute of higher learning. They went to Google University to “Study It Out”.
The stats in NJ just show we have better medical care and early intervention programs in schools and day care centers. This “epidemic” is mostly a matter of definition and diagnosis. The weird quiet kid is now “on the spectrum” instead of just the weird quiet kid.
#5 damn this high tax blue state, huh?
brian, you are wrong. 30 years ago you rarely saw kids with the classic symptoms of autism but now….they can be picked out of a crowd almost anywhere you go. Calling anyone with a disability “weird” is pretty disgusting, so congratulations. The “R” word is probably a staple in your vocabulary.
Is there a master cross reference list for all of the “letter” words?
I can’t keep track of what they all mean.
We need to stop this epidemic. The numbers are frightening and continue to get worse. I fear for my children, that when the time comes for them to have children the numbers could be 1 in 10.
What will happen to the next generation of children? Where will services come from for such a large population?
Back in the 70’s, Mr “V’ had a class of about 25 special needs kids @ RHS out of about 1800 students enrolled. Its unbelievable that we now have so many ‘special needs students’. I’d have to suspect that our ‘experts’ are very quick to ‘diagnose’ a child with some sort of ‘disability’ and load them up with Ritalin and every other foolish drug. Whether “ADD’ or ‘autism’ I believe that there is a LOT of ‘over-diagnosis’ going on here. If you don’t ‘mainstream’ these kids they will never function in society after they get pushed out of the public school system with a diploma.