In the second report in Robert MacNeil's series, Autism Now, he examines the rise in autism diagnoses in children. According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects more American children than childhood cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined with a rate of one in 110. At the Medical Investigation for Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute (MIND) in Sacramento, CA, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Sally Rogers, spent time evaluating three children with varying degrees of autism. While autism is a term used to describe a neurological disorder that is characterized by impaired social interaction and communication as well as restricted and repetitive behavior, each autistic child is uniquely different. Richard Grinker of George Washington University remarked that 30 or 40 years ago a person might have been diagnosed with mental retardation or childhood schizophrenia but in today's medical terms would be consider autistic. The widening of scope for autism diagnoses could explain the increase in numbers however other reasons are debated by scientists and medical professionals. Dr. Irva Hertz-Picciotto, who heads the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health at UC-Davis, thinks the rise in autism diagnoses are a wide range of environmental factors including nutritional factors, infectious agents, chemicals in our environment, including chemicals in the household products that we use every day. There are a variety of factors that could be influencing development, and they may play a role at different points in development. Quotes "I see it as progress. I really see it as an achievement to be able to identify these kids who previously were either misdiagnosed or maybe had no diagnosis at all." Richard Grinker, George Washington University "In my experience, the number of children who have autism has increased enormously. I remember 30 years ago when I started working with young children with autism in a real focused way. And I remember when I saw the first child in 1982, a 2-year-old with autism. Two years later I saw another. Three years later I saw another. And now in the last two years, we've recruited 50, 70 2-year-olds with autism just here in this city. It's a phenomenal change from a clinician's experience in the prevalence of autism." Sally Rogers, MIND Institute "But I think multiple factors contribute not just across the population but within any one individual. So when I say that I think autism is multifactorial in its causation, I think that applies to even at the individual level so that it might take two or three susceptibility genes combined with two or three environmental factors at critical junctures." Irva Hertz-Picciotto, UC-Davis Warm Up Questions 1.What is a developmental disorder? 2.What is autism? 3.What are some of the signs of autism? Discussion Questions 1.Do you know anyone with autism? If so, what specific challenges do they face? What resources were available to help them? 2.Can you think of other diseases or disorders whose causes and cures still puzzle scientists? How are the symptoms of those diseases or disorders managed? 3.What kind of challenges could a family experience from having a family member with a developmental disability? Have you had a family member with an illness or disability? How did you care for them? Additional Resources Video transcript Download this Video