The 12 graphs #autism deniers don’t want you to see.
You don’t have to believe that vaccines cause autism (I don’t) to appreciate the breathtaking reality of the autism epidemic. A 🧵.
1. Even limited to cases with intellectual disability, autism rates have clearly skyrocketed.
2. The CDC saw a sharp increase in autism prevalence in its first investigation, the MADDSP study. ID rates stayed flat. The investigators found diagnostic factors could NOT explain the autism surge except perhaps in black females.
3. California Dept of Developmental Services serves autism cases only if those cases suffer substantial developmental disability — and criteria tightened in 2003. But do you know autism cases surged from about 3900 in 1989 to 206,000 today? Not a typo. 206,000. (This graph is a little old.)
4. California Dept of Developmental Disabilities autism cases by birth year. Even when you include autism cases “ever in the system” the graph is pretty much the same. Where are all those autistic adults born before the late 1980s? They hardly exist.
5. Final Calif DDS graphic. There was hardly any autism in the Calif system even in 1993–4.8% of cases. Last I checked autism comprised 50% of DDS caseload.
(This 49% data is a wee bit dated).
6. Oh gosh another Calif DDS graph. ID cases and #autism cases BOTH climbed. “Diagnostic substitution” does not explain the rapid surge in autism cases.
7. How about these Minnesota autism special ed apples?
8. Oh holy guacamole, a massive study of #autism in major hospital systems finds autism rates 150x higher in young children compared to older adults. Did these systems miss 100s of thousands of adult autism cases? Not a chance.
9. Autism adult cases in the Medicaid system are exploding—but only among young adults. Here, by birth cohort the trend is ultra-clear.
10. An epidemiologist lays out the CDC #autism data, ascertainment in 8-year olds, birth years 1992-2014. An exponential increase of >7% per year.
11. It’s not just the US. For example the UK has also been suffering a massive increase in #autism prevalence in children.
12. Just a photo of my darling nonverbal Sophie enjoying a night of live music with me right now in San Jose. ❤️❤️
Autism sucks but our special kids are endlessly loved. ❤️❤️
It just amazes me that 35+ years into this horrific #autism epidemic we still have so few answers.
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