UCD study finds autism increase is real

Bee Metro Staff
Published 3:34 p.m. PDT Thursday, October 17, 2002

The unprecedented increase in autism in California is real and cannot be explained away by artificial factors, such as misclassification and criteria changes, according to the results of a large statewide epidemiological study.

Autism is a little-understood disorder that can leave children unable to communicate or behave normally. The incidence of autism has been increasing in California and some wondered if the increase was real or a fluke in the reporting.

"Speculation about the increase in autism in California has led some to try to explain it away as a statistical issue or with other factors that artificially inflated the numbers," said UC Davis pediatric epidemiologist Robert S. Byrd, who is the principal investigator on the study. "Instead, we found that autism is on the rise in the state and we still do not know why. The results of this study are, without a doubt, sobering."

"While this study does not identify the cause of autism, it does verify that autism has not been over-reported in the California Regional Center System and that some children diagnosed with mental retardation are, in fact, autistic," Byrd said.

For more details, read Friday's Bee.