Center for Disease Control on Autism in NJ

Article from March 27, 2014:

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a report showing 1 in 68 children nationally has an Autism Spectrum Disorder.  This newest estimate is based on the CDC's evaluation of health and educational records of all 8-year-old children in 2010 in 11 states, including New Jersey.  New Jersey has the highest rates, with 1 in 45, 1 in 28 boys. The national rate marks an increase of 30% from the previous 1 in 88 statistic.  

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a report today showing 1 in 68 children nationally has an autism spectrum disorder.  This newest estimate is based on the CDC's evaluation of health and educational records of 8-year-old children in 2010 in 11 states, including New Jersey.  New Jersey has the highest rates, with 1 in 45, 1 in 28 boys. The national rate marks an increase of 30% from the previous 1 in 88 statistic.  

• Gender:  The report shows that autism prevalence remains 5 times more likely in boys than girls, with 1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls (nationally) identified with an ASD in this latest report.
• Age of Diagnosis:  The average age of diagnosis is still 4 years of age, although autism can be reliably established as early as 18 months.
• IQ:  One notable change is that more children identified with an ASD have average or above average intelligence, from one-third in 2002 to half in 2010.
• Methodology:  With this report, we now have a decade of surveillance data utilizing consistent methodology that presents a clear picture of the trends since 2000.   It should be noted that all studies utilized DSM-IV diagnostic criteria.