The U.S. government reported that children almost 9% of children are overdiagnosed with autism. The reason may be because of the wide coverage of symptoms and behaviors making it difficult to diagnose, and it may also be because raising awareness about autism means there are means to help kids who are diagnosed, the team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Washington found.
Stephen Blumberg of the National Center for Health Statistics and colleagues found through the survey that up to 4 percent of children are recovering with early therapy, or outgrow their symptoms. They wrote in their report, that the results of the study suggests that some children with developmental delays, problems in attentional flexibility, or other conditions may be having provisional but inaccurate diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder from non-specialists. It fits perfectly with what other researchers have found.
The CDC found a 30 percent increase in autism diagnoses among 8-year-olds between 2008 and 2010 to one in 68 children. It was a surprising finding and one that feed fears that something was causing more children to develop the condition. A report published earlier this year however, suggested that many cases of developmental interruption had simply been re-classified as autism in recent years.
Autism spectrum disorder can vary from mild symptoms to profound mental retardation, debilitating repetitive behaviors and an inability to communicate. Genes also have a strong influence and autism runs in families. There is no cure for this condition, but experiments with early treatment suggest it may be possible to help children overcome some difficulties.
There is a possibility that language and developmental delays may be mistake as autism, and it's also possible that kids with other learning disabilities are given an autism diagnosis because services are more available in some places for children with autism, Blumberg's team said.
