The number of autism cases in the United States has considerably increased in the past ten years, prompting nationwide autism awareness conferences like the one held at UA on Feb. 18.  
  
According to the National Alliance for Autism Research, some studies indicated that there are ten times as many autism cases now than there was a decade ago. Other studies indicate a less extreme increase, but the results are still startling. 
 
Laura Klinger, an associate professor of psychology at UA, said autism affects 1 in 500 people. The NAAR said autism has become the second most common developmental disability after mental retardation. 
 
Klinger and other UA faculty held the second annual Alabama Autism Conference at the Bryant Conference Center on Feb.18. Klinger said the conference aimed to bring knowledge to Alabama about autism. 
 
"We decided to host a conference for professionals that come into contact with children who have autism," Klinger said. 
 
This year's conference focused on the difference between autism and a related disorder known as Asperger's Syndrome.  
 
Other common names for AS include the Little Professor Syndrome or the more derogatory Geek Syndrome. 
 
"Asperger's Syndrome is a term used when a child or adult has some features of autism but may not have the full blown clinical picture," said Lois Freisleben-Cook, a contributor for OASIS. OASIS is an online resource for parents of children with AS. 
 
The UA conference also emphasized the relationship between early intervention and successful treatment in autism cases. 
 
"Recent research has focused on the early identification of autism because we have found that the earlier the intervention, the more successful the outcome," Klinger said. "Children who receive intervention before five years of age are more likely to talk and more likely to be placed in regular education classrooms." 
 
Klinger, one of the lead coordinators and a speaker at the conference, is an expert in Pervasive Developmental Disorders and has worked with autistic children for 18 years. She started the University of Alabama's Pervasive Developmental Disorders Clinic in 1993. 
 
Other speakers at the conference included Tammy Barry, adjunct assistant professor at UA, Dr. Robert Knowlton, assistant professor of neurology at UAB and J. Paul Chase, a world-renowned speaker who has autism himself. 
 
The conference concluded with an interactive session in which all speakers answered questions from the audience. 
 
Geri Stone, assistant director of professional and management development programs in UA's College of Continuing Studies, said the turnout for this year's conference was more than encouraging. 
 
"Last year we had about 250 in attendance," Stone said. "This year we were expecting about 300. The actual attendance for this year was over 700." 
 
"[The conference would not have been] possible without our (the university's) partnering with the Autism Society of Alabama," Stone said. 
 
Stone also credited the University of Alabama School of Medicine Division of Continuing Medical Education, the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation and the Alabama Department of Education. 
 
As a result of the increased number of autism cases, the national media has also paid more attention to the disorder. 
 
Two late-January episodes of ABC's "Good Morning America" featured stories involving autism. According to one of the stories, there were 250,000 cases of autism in the United States in 1992. Last year that number had grown to 425,000. 
 
This story was written by Shane Sanderson, sanweb38@aol.com, and was edited by Erin E. Mosely, mosel004@bama.ua.edu.