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Recent data shows 3.3% of children on the spectum

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eternal suffering
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24 Nov 2019, 3:44 pm

http://www.health-ni.gov.uk/sites/defau ... i-2019.pdf

a recent Northern Ireland school census has found that the autism rate in children has gone from 1.2% in 2008/9 to 3.3% in 2018/19, with males in particular going from 1.9% to a whopping 5.1%. this is 1/20, a massive number. do you think this is accurate? what could be behind this rapid rise in autism diagnosis, is it just due to better awareness and diagnostic criteria or could genetic/environmental factors be involved?



Last edited by eternal suffering on 24 Nov 2019, 4:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

lostonearth35
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24 Nov 2019, 3:53 pm

The title of this post makes it sound like females aren't on the spectrum at all. I guess we female aspies may as well be unicorns because no one thinks we really exist.

Or perhaps the male-dominated audience of WP *wants* girls and women on the spectrum to be ignored. :x



magz
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24 Nov 2019, 3:56 pm

eternal suffering wrote:
http://www.health-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/health/asd-children-ni-2019.pdf

a recent Northern Ireland school census has found that the autism rate in children has gone from 1.2% in 2008/9 to 3.3% in 2018/19, with males in particular going from 1.9% to a whopping 5.1%. this is 1/20, a massive number. do you think this is accurate? what could be behind this rapid rise in autism diagnosis, is it just due to better awareness and diagnostic criteria or could genetic/environmental factors be involved?

I suspect there may be overdiagnosis, just like it was with dyslexia after it was broadly introduced.
It may settle over time.
About 2%-3% would seem reasonable to me.


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eternal suffering
Butterfly
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24 Nov 2019, 4:06 pm

lostonearth35 wrote:
The title of this post makes it sound like females aren't on the spectrum at all. I guess we female aspies may as well be unicorns because no one thinks we really exist.

Or perhaps the male-dominated audience of WP *wants* girls and women on the spectrum to be ignored. :x


lol my bad i just thought i'd highlight the male figure because it was so shocking to me. i guess i'll make the title more inclusive.