By Charles Elmore and Lona O’Connor
Palm Beach Post
A new estimate released Thursday says autism affects more children than ever — 1 in 88.
That latest estimate, for 2008, is a jump of about 25 percent from the previous estimate of 1 in 110 children in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I don’t suspect any smoking gun, like magnetic waves,” said Jack Scott, executive director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at Florida Atlantic University. The center serves 2,700 families at its Boca Raton and Port St. Lucie centers. “We’re much better at spotting this, and that’s a good thing.”
The numbers accelerate a debate about how to define the condition — and what it means for public health policy and treatment options for families.
The report comes on the heels of a South Florida court decision that orders the state to provide behavioral treatment for autism under Medicaid.
U.S. District Court Judge Joan Lenard in Miami ordered Florida officials to provide applied behavioral analysis treatment for eligible lower-income families. The intense one-on-one treatment can cost $1,000 or more per week, advocates acknowledge, but they argue that research shows for many children it can vastly improve communication and social interaction and avoid expenses such as institutional care later.
At least 8,000 Florida families, including hundreds in Palm Beach County, are estimated to be affected by Monday’s written order.
Pro bono counsel Neil Kodsi of Miami Shores called it “a win for the more than 8,000 autistic children in Florida who will now be able to receive the treatment they so desperately need to help them develop and reach their fullest potential.” It is also “a major first step for the hundreds of thousands of autistic children in other states with policies similar to that of Florida,” he said.
The state’s Agency for Health Care Administration is studying its options, including appeal.
“Our team is reviewing the transcripts and the written order,” said AHCA spokeswoman Meagan Doherty.
One of the Miami-area plaintiffs in the case had a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at about 19 months. According to plaintiffs, signs included the inability to communicate verbally, avoiding eye contact, the inability to eat solid foods, extreme irritability, hyperactivity, incessant screaming, aggression and frequent tantrums.
Advocates for people with autism said the new federal data show a need to take more urgent action.
“This is a national emergency, and it’s time for a national strategy,” Mark Roithmayr, president of the research and advocacy group Autism Speaks, told Reuters.
Over time, the addition of what is called the autism spectrum and cases of Asperger’s syndrome have helped raise the number of diagnoses, FAU’s Scott said. In the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, scheduled to be released in May 2013, there will be a new definition of autism spectrum that has already caused a lot of interest in the autism community. Some worry that expanding the definition of autism could jeopardize services for the core group of those with autism.
Services, which include speech and other therapies, can cost $40,000 or more, Scott said. Florida law allows for coverage of up to $36,000 a year for those who qualify, he said.
Education and awareness have increased in the past decade, said Scott, but less so in immigrant and under-served populations. The center sends its mobile van to communities in Belle Glade and western Palm Beach County.
Scott expressed skepticism over characterizations of an autism “epidemic.”
“It fails to take into consideration the expanded definition, and it’s not the best strategy to make people afraid of this epidemic creeping around the corner,” Scott said.
The new definition of autism will take a few years to find its way into the school criteria and state agencies, Scott said.
“Once it enters into the bureaucracy, I think we will see then a leveling off of the number of cases of autism,” he said.
Copyright 2012 Palm Beach Post