Key Point: CDC rate of autism increase matches rate of ultrasound increase.

Note – From the data in Key Point 29, a curve of the rise of number of ultrasounds per US pregnancy can be drawn that shows a pace of 11% more per year from the mid-90s to 2006. In a March 2012 CDC report, the rise in ASD was 80% for children born in a period where the rise in ultrasounds per pregnancy was 73%.

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CDC pegs rate of Autism Spectrum Disorder as 1 in 59 children born in 2010 and in 2006

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/features/asd-data-four-year-old-children.html

New Data on Autism Spectrum Disorder in 4-Year-Old Children

2019 – CDC scientists published a report on the prevalence and characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among 4-year-old children. This report is based on information from the Early Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network which has been doing ASD surveillance among 8-year-old children since 2000.

Seven sites from across the United States were included in this report. These sites participated in Early ADDM for at least one year during surveillance years 2010, 2012, and 2014. However, trends in the prevalence and characteristics of ASD could only be analyzed across three sites: Arizona, Missouri, and New Jersey. This is because not all seven sites participated and had consistent data sources for all three surveillance years.

  • In 2010, 1.3% of 4-year-old children (1 in 75) in five communities across the United States were identified as having ASD.
  • In 2012, 1.5% of 4-year-old children (1 in 66) in five communities across the United States were identified as having ASD.
  • In 2014, 1.7% of 4-year-old children (1 in 59) in six communities across the United States were identified as having ASD.

The findings in this report do not replace the April 2018 report from the ADDM Network, which found that 1 in 59 children 8 years of age were identified with ASD.

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html