http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/4828799p-5841971c.html
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.
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