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Autism Information Center |
Recognizing the Early Signs of ASDs
Children develop at their own pace, so it can be hard to tell
exactly when a child will learn a particular skill. But there are
age-specific milestones designed to measure a child’s development in
the first few years of life. To learn more about developmental
milestones, visit “Learn
the Signs. Act Early,” a campaign by CDC and national partners
to educate parents, health care professionals, and child care
providers about early childhood development, including possible
early warning signs of autism and other developmental disabilities.
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Determining How Many Children Have
ASDs
We don’t have a full count of all individuals with ASDs in the
United States. But, data collected from autism spectrum disorder
monitoring activities allow researchers to estimate the number of
children that will eventually be diagnosed with an ASD. Information
gathered from monitoring activities can help service providers plan
for funding, personnel, research, and interventions. Following are
activities that CDC conducts or funds:
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Brick Autism Project
In late 1997, a citizen’s group in Brick Township, New Jersey,
told the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) about
what seemed to be a larger-than-expected number of children with
autism in Brick Township. Because of the complexity of the disorder
and the citizens’ concern that environmental factors might play a
role, the New Jersey DHSS contacted CDC and the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) for help. CDC and ATSDR
worked together to find out how common ASDs were in Brick Township
and to study the possible relationship of environmental factors to
ASDs in the community.
The findings of the Brick Autism Project are
reported in the following materials:
Reports:
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Bertrand J, Mars A, Boyle C, Bove F,
Yeargin-Allsopp M, Decouflé P. Prevalence of autism in a United
States population: the Brick Township, New Jersey,
investigation. Pediatrics 2001;108:1155-61. [Read
abstract]
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Public Health Assessment: Brick Township
Investigation
[Read
HTML version]
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Prevalence of Autism in Brick Township, New
Jersey, 1998: Community Report [Read
HTML version] [
Read PDF version]
You
will need Acrobat Reader to read this PDF file. [Click
here to get Acrobat Reader]
Fact Sheets:
- CDC/ATSDR Involvement in the Brick
Township Autism Investigation
[Read
HTML version]
- Investigation
of the Prevalence of Autism in Brick Township - A Community Report [Read
HTML version]
- Results of Brick Township
Investigation of Environmental Pathways - A Public Health Assessment
[Read
HTML version]
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National Surveys
CDC conducts two nationally
representative surveys that provide data on health conditions in
U.S. children: the
National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) and the
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). The surveys were run
independently during 2003–2004. Both were based on a nationally
representative sample of non-institutionalized U.S. children ages
4–17. In both surveys, parents or guardians of the sampled children
were asked about a range of health issues, including autism.
Autism prevalence was estimated
from a question asking parents if they were ever told by a doctor or
other health care provider that their child had autism.
Estimates of diagnosed autism were
5.7 per 1,000 school-age children from the National Health Interview
Survey and 5.5 per 1,000 school-age children from the National
Survey of Children's Health. Both surveys showed that boys were
nearly four times more likely than girls to have been diagnosed with
autism.
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Early ASD
Surveillance Development Project
CDC is funding three
sites—the California Department of Health Services, Florida State
University, and the University of Utah—to
develop and test projects to identify the number of children
under 4 years of age with ASDs. These pilot projects, funded for one
year, will help find ways to get a more accurate picture of the
prevalence of ASDs at earlier ages. Funding for this project began
September 1, 2006.
Understanding the Causes of ASDs
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Vaccines and Autism Spectrum Disorders
Chart of
CDC's Vaccines and Autism activities
Additional Vaccines and Autism information
You can also get information about vaccines and autism by calling
1-800-CDC-INFO or emailing us at cdcinfo@cdc.gov.
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Date:
January 31, 2008
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities
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