Thread by @thinkingautism

The #autism prevalence, per @CDCgov, is now 1 in 54 children. You may see some alarmists claiming this is a crisis, a tidal wave, etc.

No. Such people are misinformed.

If anything, autism is still under-identified—& that should be our focus. This is going to be a thread. 1/

@CDCgov You need to know that the new CDC numbers demonstrate how, essentially, autistic people have always been here—the CDC is just getting better at identifying them; plus the CDC's understanding of just who qualifies as #autistic has changed over time. #neurodiversity 2/

@CDCgov The criteria for autism diagnoses have not just changed over time but changed to be more inclusive over time (Asperger's, added to the DSM in 1994, was folded into #Autism Spectrum Disorders in 2013). More info on that: link.springer.com/chapter/10.100… 3/

Anthropologist @roygrinker studied autism rates in Korea in 2011, and concluded that a more realistic #autism prevalence was 1 in 38. This means that the CDC's 2012 estimate of 1 in 88 was already a lowball. As are the new numbers, most likely. 4/

But, again, what do the new #autism numbers mean? Ideally, better identification & better estimation of autistic people means better identification and estimation of needs and supports. The CDC also identified disparities in who gets identified, who gets overlooked, and why. 5/

@KQED reported that white kids get far more #autism diagnoses, "even though scientists don’t believe the rates are truly different between whites, Hispanics or blacks. That means that the discrepancy lies in the diagnosis & services available in different communities.” 6/

@KQED Basically:
1) The CDC is getting better at identifying the #autistic people who have always been here
2) Better estimates of autism prevalence will ideally lead to better supports/services
3) There is still much work to do, especially in under served communities/ethnic groups 7/

The simplicity of these three takeaways continues to be lost on many, especially "autism epidemic"-focused organizations, many of whom keep being cited as legitimate autism resources. This really needs to stop happening. 8/

But while it is distressing to read articles incorporating opinions from groups whose mission is to eradicate rather than support autistic people, we realize that not all readers or reporters know how to evaluate autism resources for trustworthiness. 9/

So, with the CDC's report in mind, we recommend reading & sharing TPGA's own guidelines on identifying autism pseudoscience: thinkingautismguide.com/p/mission-stat…, and useful #autism orgs: thinkingautismguide.com/p/position.html

And maybe stop framing autism as a disease rather than a disability. Thx. 10/10