How many people have AS?

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Does anyone have any idea as to current estimates of the percentage of people who are AS people?

Steve

Around 0.5% of the population.

My Abnormal Psych textbook was just published this year, and they said 1 out of every 250 people has Asperger's. However, I've heard many, many different statistics.
-OddDuckNash99-

1 in 5,000. It is four times more common in boys than girls

Where did you get the 1 in 5,000 statistic?

And the 4 times more common in boys statement is old the ratio is more like 2:1 now and still dropping.

The .5% sounds too high, because that would indicate almost half of autistics were AS!
Where did you hear about the 1 in 5000 though? THAT sounds LOW! Especially considering that it became official, and there are so many here saying they are AS.

AS would be a lot harder to diagnose than simple autism. Heck, in my case it was all explained away by subjective thought and chance.

I just wonder because in retrospect I have seen THOUSANDS of people, and only a few appeared to show any signs of autism(although there were only a few chances to observe it), and only some(I don't believe any appeared autistic) seemed to be very smart.(although admittedly I had little chance to judge that also)

Steve

saying but are not going along for a diagnouses...
hes asking As

An estimated 50,000 people have autism in Scotland today. Around 535,000 people have autism in the UK and over 2 million people are affected by the disability.

The National Autistic Society Scotland (NAS Scotland), part of the UK's leading charity for people with autism

Last edited by logitechdog on 14 Dec 2006, 7:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Actually there are more HFA/AS autistics than low functioning ones if you want to get technical.

But my 0.5% statistic is for all autistics as a percentage of the total world population.

Its basically the same as saying 1 in 200.

REALLY? Most are SMARTER, etc....? That is something! The current official ratio is 1 in 166 have Autism. It is unclear whether that includes HFA or AS, but they try to imply that they are all LFA.

Steve

That is why many dispute the "epidemic" of autism rhetoric coming from the advocacy groups. Many people who ARE on the spectrum who are older may not even realize it so how would you count them if they don't know they should be counted. At best any number is an estimate - and the 1 in 166 the advocacy groups have admitted is beneficial for donations.

if it was this they would be better detection for people, more stuff in place - better care but most have to go private

Last edited by logitechdog on 14 Dec 2006, 9:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Those groups collect alot of money too - don't know what they do with it though.

Hell know's maybe in they back pocket what's they admin % of the charity money they take?

Mostly wasted on refurbishment or people not qualified to handle people

probably into this

/*
Autism charities merge to boost biomedical research efforts

Autism Speaks and the US National Alliance for Autism Research have completed a merger, bringing together two leading organizations engaged in the battle against autism. The combined organization will be known as Autism Speaks.

The consolidation of the two charities is based on their joint commitment to accelerate and fund biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments and cure for autism spectrum disorders; to increase awareness of the fastest growing developmental disorder in the US; and to advocate for the needs of affected families.
*/

If one thinks of ASDs as being on a Normally Distributed Bell Curve, severe on the lowest end, and super nonautistic on the other, it would stand to reason that there would be more Aspies than those with Kanner's, and more Broader Autistic Phenotypes than those with Aspergers. Since as you move into the bell curve, the percentage represented becomes larger and larger.

According to a more recent study (by Fombonne I think), PDD-NOS is the most used diagnosis, followed by Aspergers, and then finally Autistic Disorder. Autistic Disorder makes up about 1/4th of the sample they studied.

So I guess the REAL question is what percentage of them are AS, and how good are they with the diagnosis? Aren't all aspies considered autistic? If so, then "super nonautistic" would be way out of the ballpark. I can't see how ANYONE could be "super non autistic" though. Once you get to "non autistic", how can you go any further? ALSO, aspergers seems to be the narrowest Autistic Phenotype. It prohibits significant delays/deficiencies in almost every area, while defining some where deficiencies DO exist. So mentally, and even physically to a degree, the range is much narrower than it is for normal autism.

Steve

That's quite interesting, but then not surprising. I think that some professionals don't know where to 'place' people hence the diagnosis of PDD-NOS. I also find it interesting as I read my medical notes a while back. I thought I'd find the diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome but I was diagnosed with Autistic Disorder. It said in my notes 'likely to be Asperger's', so I take it as read that that is what I have. It seems to fit my persona quite well so hey. I mention my diagnosis as I'm sure that there are more of us out there who have been diagnosed with one type of autism and suspected it's highly likely that we have something else or another type. So, how can the number of people with AS be determined in cases such as mine? Unless you just look at the number of people diagnosed with all forms of autistic spectrum disorders?