I saw a headline this week saying that autism prevalence rates among children are up hugely. Is this really true?
Yes, about one in 20 schoolchildren are being diagnosed with autism, a three-fold increase in less than a decade, Department of Education figures show.
The department has moved from using an estimated autism prevalence rate of 1.5-1.6 per cent among schoolchildren several years ago to about 5 per cent now.
That’s surprising. What’s behind such a dramatic increase?
Most experts put the rise in autism prevalence rates down to increased awareness, better diagnosis and a significant widening of assessment boundaries for autism. Asperger’s syndrome, for example, was removed as a diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – often referred to as “psychiatry’s bible” – in 2013 and has been integrated into a much broader diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
Some experts also say the fact that a diagnosis can unlock supports means clinicians are more likely to diagnose a child, even those on the borderline of clinical criteria.
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Is this increase an Irish phenomenon?
No, autism prevalence rates are on the rise across much of the globe. In the US, for example, prevalence rates are up from one in 44 among children to about one in 36.
In Northern Ireland health authorities also estimate that one in 20 children have autism, a three-fold increase in a decade.
There was very little autism in my classroom back in the day. Why it is so widespread now?
Most experts believe it was always there – we are just better at identifying it now. Academic research has examined how in adulthood some individuals with symptoms were retrospectively found to have shown signs of autism as children, even if they were not diagnosed at the time.
What about vaccines; is there any evidence it is factor?
In 1998, now-disgraced British doctor Andrew Wakefield wrote a study falsely claiming that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism in children. Both he and his research have since been discredited, but many unfounded claims are still made by some anti-vaccination campaigners.
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What impact will these rising rates have on schools?
The growing incidence is placing strain on the education system as authorities scramble to find school places for children with additional needs.
At least 400 new special classes and 200 new special school places will be required every year for the next three years to keep pace with demand. The need for special education places at second level is also projected to increase significantly.
It is causing huge stress for parents, dozens of whom protested earlier this month outside the department as part of a sleep-out to draw attention to shortages of school places for children with special needs.
