DON'T PANIC! it's just worse than we thought, or so we think?

So yesterday the Autism cosmos was rocked by yet again, a NEW set of numbers. One in fifty children ages 6-17 has Autism, encompassing all forms of the disorder from mild Aspergers to classically severe non-verbal Autism. As usual boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed than girls. A interesting note about this "revelation" is that it doesn't even include kids under six years old. Which is a pretty typical age for diagnosis.

I read five different online write ups about this new diagnosis rate and they all say the same thing. DON'T PANIC, DON'T PANIC, hey did I mention, KEEP THE MOTHER EFFER CALM! Each of the articles disputed the study based on the fact that it was a phone survey, answered by parents and not providers or school districts. Stupid parents, everyone knows they totally over diagnosing their own children and that schools and doctors have ALWAYS been totally on top of the Autism epidemic (please mentally insert sarcastic cough here).

Now, lets do a little critical thinking. First the articles state "Health officials say the new number doesn't mean autism is occurring more often. But it does suggest that doctors are diagnosing autism more frequently"
(of course they didn't interview doctors so how does that work?) then they say "Still, CDC officials believe the survey provides a valid snapshot of how many families are affected by autism, said Stephen Blumberg, the CDC report's lead author". I'd say that is a pretty contradictory statement. Is this study indicative of rising Autism rates or not? Do we chose to believe, GASP, that parents are capable of accurately reporting what is really affecting families, pish-posh I say!

My thought are, well lets see? What if the 1 in 88 is the right number and not 1 one 50? Well does better diagnosis rate still account for the drastic explosion of new cases of Autism? Is the 1 in 110 statistic right? At what point are we going to look to something OTHER than better diagnosis? At what levee are we going yell FLOOD!? When do we PANIC?! When, really, it's a serious question? When will the CDC, AAP and other organizations think it's time PANIC? For me, it was five years ago when my son stopped talking and couldn't poop to save his life (or mine), PANIC hit me dead in the gut.

So many families are drowning in a sea of Autism PANIC, even if you dispute this newest number you cannot dispute the graphs dire freakish skyward climb. So please, critical thinking people, it's time to PANIC!

If your interested to know, they DIDN'T call and interview me for that study.

Here are a few of the web article I reviewed: Peruse with a critical eye.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr065.pdf
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/03/20/autism_one_in_50_kids_are_autistic_according_to_the_cdc.html
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/03/autism_survey_finds_1_in_50_am.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2013/03/20/autism-prevalence-is-now-at-1-in-50-children/
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50143206n