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Developmental Disabilities |
The North Carolina Center for Autism and Developmental
Disabilities Epidemiology
The North Carolina Center for Autism and Developmental
Disabilities Epidemiology is the CADDRE program studying ASDs and mental
retardation in North Carolina. The project will include the following
counties: Alamance, Chatham, Davidson, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Johnston,
Orange, Randolph, and Wake.
The center will conduct four major projects:
1. Monitoring Activities
It is not currently known how many children living in North Carolina have
an ASD. In the 2000–2001 school year, 136 8-year-old children were
classified as having autism under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA). IDEA is the federal law that supports special
education and related services for children and youth with disabilities.
However, there are additional children with ASDs who are classified in
other disability categories under IDEA. There are also other children with
ASDs and mental retardation who are in regular education classes, who
attend private school, or who are home schooled.
The North Carolina center will use multiple sources to
obtain a more complete estimate of the number of children aged 3–8 years in
the project area with an ASD or mental retardation. The center will study
whether these disabilities are more common in some groups of children than
in others and whether the rates are increasing.
2. National CADDRE Study
The center will work with the other CADDRE programs to find causes of ASDs
or factors that make it more likely that a child will have an ASD. Families
who take part in the study will answer survey questions; children with ASDs
will be tested, and staff will look at children’s birth records. Children
aged 3–5 years will be included in the combined centers study. Children
with ASDs will be compared with children who do not have an ASD.
3. Special Studies
The North Carolina center is interested in evaluating the cost and
utilization of services used by families that have a child with autism; as
well as sociodemographic and geographic characteristics that may pertain to
receiving a diagnosis or using of services.
4. Sharing Information
The North Carolina center plans to train nurses, physicians, educators, and
other providers of health and educational services to screen children for
signs of developmental disabilities and ASDs. Information will be shared
through mailings to parents and support groups, the media, scientific
publications, and presentations at professional conferences. The
North Carolina Web site at
www.sph.unc.edu/cde includes links to information for parents,
educators, and clinicians.
For further information, please contact:
Julie Daniels, PhD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Public Health
Department of Epidemiology, CB# 7435
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7435
Phone: (919) 966-7096
Fax: (919) 966-2089
E-mail: juliedaniels@unc.edu
Web: www.sph.unc.edu/cde
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Date: October 29, 2004
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities
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