Latest CDC number 1 in 36 children diagnosed with autism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: It's based on data from 2020 and I am surprised they don't break it down into girls vs. boys because usually they do and it's always more boys than girls. I do believe there can be a genetic component and I know they have broadened the definition and are better with early detection, but as a parent of a child with autism I absolutely do believe there is so much going wrong in our environment contributing to this.

They do say that it’s 3.8 times more prevalent in boys than girls, but they don’t say how that has changed over time. They also mention that girls are diagnosed later and are more likely to also have an intellectual disability.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/ss/pdfs/ss7202a1-H.pdf

So what does that make it for boys out of curiosity...not sure how to do the math....1 in how many boys? I could have sworn we already hit 1 in 15 a year or 2 ago.

1 in 86 girls
1 in 23 boys

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Autism is a medical condition causing brain inflammation. I wonder how many years it will take for this to be accepted ? How many kids will suffer, how many families will suffer?

There are so many groups trying to normalize autism, saying it's not a bad thing. That will hinder the search for a cause and a cure or prevention.

+100

I also think they'll eventually find that a least a large subset of ASD is inflammatory. PANDAS-caused ASD behavior is clearly inflammatory (and to an outsider, the behavior in that transient period looks identical to ASD). And small scale studies of kids diagnosed with ASD show statistically significant improvement in symptoms on steroid treatment (regression once the steroids inevitably have to be stopped).

I’m not sure what’s worse: this kind of pseudoscience bullshit pushing harmful treatments (steroids are no joke); or the adult “autism”
community interfering with the development and deployment of effective therapies; or the online self-diagnoses “autism community” blathering on about masking.

FWIW my DS supposedly on the spectrum is exactly like his dad, cousin and uncle. It’s not inflammation or a virus.

Something can be both inflammatory and genetic. Also not sure why a small scale study that confirmed that ASD symptoms decrease on steroids is "pushing harmful treatments". The studies explicitly say that it's not safe to use steroids and this isn't a viable treatment. But knowing that there is a correlation between ASD symptoms and steroids is a huge piece of information that should presumably drive other research. The steroid/inflammation discussion is not just witch doctor stuff but acknowledged by legit medical communities (also acknowledging the limitations).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the increase mostly in mild forms? Because that's where most diagnostic progress has been made. If we see an increase in severe forms, then that's cause to worry about environmental causes.

I don't think they specify and I get what you are saying. However, as the mom of a child considered to have mild HFA I have to tell you even if it's mild this is highly alarming. I am lucky we could afford all the private intervention EI through the state did not offer. I am lucky I could afford to go part time and even stop working for a period of time. I am lucky we could afford all the medical issues more common with HFA and to pay for a therapist for myself so I didn't lose my mind. You may look at my child and see mild and mainstreamed, but I can assure you as the parent of a NT child as well this has been 1000x more work and stress and I am lucky. How are we going to support all the kids with mild issues below the poverty line or even who's families just can't afford what we did. What about the parents who have no choice but to work full time. My words are not expressing well how exhausting it has been to try to do right by my child and I still feel guilt for not doing more and I know I have the privilege for being able to do what I have. And...my child may still never be able to be completely independent.

Yes, families with kids with more severe needs have it much harder. Yes, it makes a difference if those diagnoses are of kids with more severe needs. However, many of the mild cases may not become gainfully employed according to some stats. Many may still need to live at home for life. Autism has been around a long time and school systems still struggle to do the basics and special ed teachers are burning out and leaving the profession at record numbers. Mild does not mean these are a bunch of future professors and engineers who will just have better social skills thanks to EI.

PP you replied to. Yes, I have a child with HFA. It's a little strange you assumed I did not. But it's always good to write it out for other posters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Autism is a medical condition causing brain inflammation. I wonder how many years it will take for this to be accepted ? How many kids will suffer, how many families will suffer?

There are so many groups trying to normalize autism, saying it's not a bad thing. That will hinder the search for a cause and a cure or prevention.

+100

I also think they'll eventually find that a least a large subset of ASD is inflammatory. PANDAS-caused ASD behavior is clearly inflammatory (and to an outsider, the behavior in that transient period looks identical to ASD). And small scale studies of kids diagnosed with ASD show statistically significant improvement in symptoms on steroid treatment (regression once the steroids inevitably have to be stopped).

I’m not sure what’s worse: this kind of pseudoscience bullshit pushing harmful treatments (steroids are no joke); or the adult “autism”
community interfering with the development and deployment of effective therapies; or the online self-diagnoses “autism community” blathering on about masking.

FWIW my DS supposedly on the spectrum is exactly like his dad, cousin and uncle. It’s not inflammation or a virus.

Something can be both inflammatory and genetic. Also not sure why a small scale study that confirmed that ASD symptoms decrease on steroids is "pushing harmful treatments". The studies explicitly say that it's not safe to use steroids and this isn't a viable treatment. But knowing that there is a correlation between ASD symptoms and steroids is a huge piece of information that should presumably drive other research. The steroid/inflammation discussion is not just witch doctor stuff but acknowledged by legit medical communities (also acknowledging the limitations).

Please just stfu kindly. 20 years ago you would have been advocating for bleach enemas and spouting anti-vax nonsense. It’s not inflammation and that is garbage research.

Wait, what? I'm a science based person. My own kid had another unrelated issue when he was 6 and had to do a month of steroids and the behavioral changes were remarkable as related to his core asd symptoms. There are tons of mainstream researchers and articles that recognize the link between steroids and improvement in ASD symptoms. We can't use steroids to treat autism though. But you can't ignore the connection nonetheless. As i already said, it's probably only a subset of ASD, but to my knowledge it's not remotely controversial to suggest there may be an inflammation link with some cases of autism. Your vitriol tells me maybe i'm wrong. But seriously i didn't think this was controversial.

Thanks for your n of 1.

Have you ever taken steroids? They have behavioral/psychological impact on anyone, autism or not. This is absolute pseudoscience that harms the (rare) kids who actually do have inflammatory-based behavioral conditions (basically viral or autoimmune encephalitis).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Autism is a medical condition causing brain inflammation. I wonder how many years it will take for this to be accepted ? How many kids will suffer, how many families will suffer?

There are so many groups trying to normalize autism, saying it's not a bad thing. That will hinder the search for a cause and a cure or prevention.

Source?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Autism is a medical condition causing brain inflammation. I wonder how many years it will take for this to be accepted ? How many kids will suffer, how many families will suffer?

There are so many groups trying to normalize autism, saying it's not a bad thing. That will hinder the search for a cause and a cure or prevention.

+100

I also think they'll eventually find that a least a large subset of ASD is inflammatory. PANDAS-caused ASD behavior is clearly inflammatory (and to an outsider, the behavior in that transient period looks identical to ASD). And small scale studies of kids diagnosed with ASD show statistically significant improvement in symptoms on steroid treatment (regression once the steroids inevitably have to be stopped).

I’m not sure what’s worse: this kind of pseudoscience bullshit pushing harmful treatments (steroids are no joke); or the adult “autism”
community interfering with the development and deployment of effective therapies; or the online self-diagnoses “autism community” blathering on about masking.

FWIW my DS supposedly on the spectrum is exactly like his dad, cousin and uncle. It’s not inflammation or a virus.

Something can be both inflammatory and genetic. Also not sure why a small scale study that confirmed that ASD symptoms decrease on steroids is "pushing harmful treatments". The studies explicitly say that it's not safe to use steroids and this isn't a viable treatment. But knowing that there is a correlation between ASD symptoms and steroids is a huge piece of information that should presumably drive other research. The steroid/inflammation discussion is not just witch doctor stuff but acknowledged by legit medical communities (also acknowledging the limitations).

NP here. One of my 3 kids has a dx of ADHD/mild ASD. He was my premie who has had eczema and digestive issues (although not enough to be labeled celiac). I’ve never heard the inflammation theory before. But we have no genetic predisposition for neuropsych disorders. I now want to research more into this. I think we should at least be asking these questions and it doesn’t belittle the diagnosis.

[Anonymous]

Also I will add that my side of the family has a ton of autoimmune issues. I take ibuprofen like candy for joint pain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Autism is a medical condition causing brain inflammation. I wonder how many years it will take for this to be accepted ? How many kids will suffer, how many families will suffer?

There are so many groups trying to normalize autism, saying it's not a bad thing. That will hinder the search for a cause and a cure or prevention.

Source?

Crappy medical journal articles plus “my kid was so much better on steroids!” plus woo-woo stuff on inflammation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Autism is a medical condition causing brain inflammation. I wonder how many years it will take for this to be accepted ? How many kids will suffer, how many families will suffer?

There are so many groups trying to normalize autism, saying it's not a bad thing. That will hinder the search for a cause and a cure or prevention.

+100

I also think they'll eventually find that a least a large subset of ASD is inflammatory. PANDAS-caused ASD behavior is clearly inflammatory (and to an outsider, the behavior in that transient period looks identical to ASD). And small scale studies of kids diagnosed with ASD show statistically significant improvement in symptoms on steroid treatment (regression once the steroids inevitably have to be stopped).

I’m not sure what’s worse: this kind of pseudoscience bullshit pushing harmful treatments (steroids are no joke); or the adult “autism”
community interfering with the development and deployment of effective therapies; or the online self-diagnoses “autism community” blathering on about masking.

FWIW my DS supposedly on the spectrum is exactly like his dad, cousin and uncle. It’s not inflammation or a virus.

Agreed. I also have a child with autism, cousins with autism, parent w/autism, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Autism is a medical condition causing brain inflammation. I wonder how many years it will take for this to be accepted ? How many kids will suffer, how many families will suffer?

There are so many groups trying to normalize autism, saying it's not a bad thing. That will hinder the search for a cause and a cure or prevention.

+100

I also think they'll eventually find that a least a large subset of ASD is inflammatory. PANDAS-caused ASD behavior is clearly inflammatory (and to an outsider, the behavior in that transient period looks identical to ASD). And small scale studies of kids diagnosed with ASD show statistically significant improvement in symptoms on steroid treatment (regression once the steroids inevitably have to be stopped).

I’m not sure what’s worse: this kind of pseudoscience bullshit pushing harmful treatments (steroids are no joke); or the adult “autism”
community interfering with the development and deployment of effective therapies; or the online self-diagnoses “autism community” blathering on about masking.

FWIW my DS supposedly on the spectrum is exactly like his dad, cousin and uncle. It’s not inflammation or a virus.

Something can be both inflammatory and genetic. Also not sure why a small scale study that confirmed that ASD symptoms decrease on steroids is "pushing harmful treatments". The studies explicitly say that it's not safe to use steroids and this isn't a viable treatment. But knowing that there is a correlation between ASD symptoms and steroids is a huge piece of information that should presumably drive other research. The steroid/inflammation discussion is not just witch doctor stuff but acknowledged by legit medical communities (also acknowledging the limitations).

NP here. One of my 3 kids has a dx of ADHD/mild ASD. He was my premie who has had eczema and digestive issues (although not enough to be labeled celiac). I’ve never heard the inflammation theory before. But we have no genetic predisposition for neuropsych disorders. I now want to research more into this. I think we should at least be asking these questions and it doesn’t belittle the diagnosis.

why not look into whether gluten causes autism? or sugar. or food dye. or vaccines?

the search for occult causes of autism is completely pointless and a reflection of at best, bad science journalism, and at worse, actual charlatans taking advantage of parents. just focus on your kid’s challenges.

[Anonymous]

The problem is that "autism" is now too broad, encompassing truly disabled individuals and people who are merely quirky. The biological basis for these cases is likely quite different. For classic autism, we know a lot about what is happening in the brain, and changes are detected very early in development, in infancy before social functioning and language development are apparent. There are changes in the wiring of the brain and faulty pruning of synapses. Inflammation is hypothesized to contribute developmentally to autism, because the neuroimmune cells of the brain are involved in this synaptic pruning. If we're talking about environmental drivers of autism, it probably has a lot more to do with the health of the mother during gestation than anything children are exposed to after birth. Obesity, diabetes, etc in the mother all increase risk. And we know America is broadly failing where lifestyle and health are concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that "autism" is now too broad, encompassing truly disabled individuals and people who are merely quirky. The biological basis for these cases is likely quite different. For classic autism, we know a lot about what is happening in the brain, and changes are detected very early in development, in infancy before social functioning and language development are apparent. There are changes in the wiring of the brain and faulty pruning of synapses. Inflammation is hypothesized to contribute developmentally to autism, because the neuroimmune cells of the brain are involved in this synaptic pruning. If we're talking about environmental drivers of autism, it probably has a lot more to do with the health of the mother during gestation than anything children are exposed to after birth. Obesity, diabetes, etc in the mother all increase risk. And we know America is broadly failing where lifestyle and health are concerned.

Awesome. As if I didn't feel guilty enough about having a child on the spectrum. Thanks for this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the increase mostly in mild forms? Because that's where most diagnostic progress has been made. If we see an increase in severe forms, then that's cause to worry about environmental causes.

Even if it is, shouldn’t we still question why so many kids are diagnosed and whether any of it can be prevented?

+1

Autoimmune disorders are on the rise, allergies are on the rise, asthma is on the rise.

I wonder if we are going to get to 1 in 5 kids with autism and people will still say it's all better detection, broadening definition and mild forms. When will it be enough for people to care about environmental triggers?

None of these are comparable and all have medical evidence and often genetic.

I think they are comparable. There are doctors who believe these are all related to autoimmune disorders. Kids with ADHD and autism are much more likely to get PANS/PANDAS. There’s a high correlation between Celiac and ADHD, etc.

It seems related to me. Kids with ASD have GI issues, disproportionately. There’s the interesting fever effect, in which some kids become more “typical” behaviorally, when they have a fever. There is also a pallor that I see in kids with ADHD and ASD—nobody has been able to explain to me what it is, but it’s noticeable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the increase mostly in mild forms? Because that's where most diagnostic progress has been made. If we see an increase in severe forms, then that's cause to worry about environmental causes.

Even if it is, shouldn’t we still question why so many kids are diagnosed and whether any of it can be prevented?

+1

Autoimmune disorders are on the rise, allergies are on the rise, asthma is on the rise.

I wonder if we are going to get to 1 in 5 kids with autism and people will still say it's all better detection, broadening definition and mild forms. When will it be enough for people to care about environmental triggers?

None of these are comparable and all have medical evidence and often genetic.

I think they are comparable. There are doctors who believe these are all related to autoimmune disorders. Kids with ADHD and autism are much more likely to get PANS/PANDAS. There’s a high correlation between Celiac and ADHD, etc.

It seems related to me. Kids with ASD have GI issues, disproportionately. There’s the interesting fever effect, in which some kids become more “typical” behaviorally, when they have a fever. There is also a pallor that I see in kids with ADHD and ASD—nobody has been able to explain to me what it is, but it’s noticeable.

Oh ffs. Yes, the pallor. That’s because they are actually vampires.

[Anonymous]

Who is this one lunatic on this thread arguing with a ton of people? They apparently have a really, really vested interest in fighting the mere possibility that inflammation be even mentioned in the same sentence as ASD.

Which is really interesting and gets to the whole original point of this thread/new study: As you expand the definition of autism, and the spectrum gets wider, do you create a greater likelihood of non-shared interests and infighting -- resulting in people less likely to have their needs heard and met?

Certainly sounds like it, based on just the one really loud voice in this thread.