Autism: Epidemic or Not?

The prevalent issue regarding autism epidemic is seemingly a worth controversy that it brings an extensive or large audience to care about the children who's suffering from autistic. The world of an autistic children are said to be increasing its number per year. While a mother of an autistic child marvels when would the health officials act out to care about the said disorder, claiming a thousands of children afflicted, these current controversy give them hope and faith that someday, somehow, people and health officials will give a prime importance like SARS and can get the same publicity and care in which every mother and autistic children of the world knows that they need it. In 2005, the controversy about the epidemic became widely known, there was a debate in the U.S. concerning between the parents of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) children and the federal government whether the disorder should be given a wide attention or shall a society will care about its increasing rate. The flow of the debate made an encouraging twist and turn, which in favour to the afflicted children.

The said disorder seem appeared and identified at around 1930's and since then it has been reported that its increasing in rate, to the extent that in the year of 2002, almost 120,000 autistic children were being held under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)- which claimed an increase of 500 percent in the last decade, in the United States. Autism was once specified as rare disorder but as the rate of autistic children rapidly increase, it becomes the most common neurological disorder affecting children. It is a severely debilitating developmental disability that affects many aspects of how a child sees the world and learns from his or her experiences. In 2001, autism was defined by the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences as " a disorder that is present from birth or very early in development that affects essential human behaviours such as interaction, the ability to communicate ideas and feelings, imagination, and the establishment of relationships with others". Autism is the result of an abnormality and function of the brain that arise during pregnancy either due to something injures the brain or due to a genetic factor that interferes with typical brain growth. Leo Kanner, an American child psychiatrist was originally described the termed "early infantile autism". He published a series of studies of eleven children who had a number of peculiar behaviours, but who all showed a marked lack of interest of the people around them. Kanner described it as "early infantile autism" because the disorder seemed to be present from the earliest part of infancy.

It is recorded that among the various neurological and developmental disorder categories, only autism appears to be on the upswing. Psychiatrist suggested that there's a huge increase of rate in the diagnosed cases and it doesn't mean that there's an epidemic. What are they trying to convey that this disorder was once identified as a rare cases but as the years passed by it becomes common that widely affects the nature of the children. The number of children in each year diagnose with autism in countries reporting figures is larger now and then. An increased awareness of autistic disorders by parents and paediatricians may have also led to increased reporting of Autism due to case substitutions, which occurs when children with other disorders are identified as autistics.

The incidence of autism varies from country to country. There are profound and valid proof of the most well-funded charities and public health systems in the whole world about the significant increase of the developing or an inborn disorder. In Canada, autism is alarming; it is reported that the cases have risen by 150 percent in six years and the evidence has shown that out of 200 Canadian children, at least one has a mild form of autism. This latest statistics may affects four times more males than females, with an overall increase of 600% in diagnosis over the past 10 years. Canadian parents are much concern that this upswing rate may destroy the national economy. About 8 million young people in Canada in the age group of 0-19, applying a rate of 60/10,000 (or 0.6%), the estimation grows that there are currently 48,000 young people from that age group suffering from a Pervasive

Developmental Disorder (PDD). In the United States, they cited, there are tendencies of the developing disorder, of 4.5 cases per every 10,000 live births. In California, of about 15 to 20 cases per every 10,000 live births; Ohio in 2002 reported 22 cases, and increased by 13,895 percent to 3,057 decade later. In Illinois, the cases soar high from just five in 1992 to 3,802- it increases of 76,040 percent. There was a report in one suburban town of Granite Bay, about 30 miles east of Sacramento, 22 of the 2,930 children enrolled in grades K-6 are autistic. Indeed, the rampant growth is high, considering that in 1987 there were 2,778 persons with autism in California. By 2002 the number has increased to 20,377 and 3,575 new cases had been added to the rolls, far exceeding the total number of cases in the state 15 years earlier.

Epidemic or not, it should become a main concern. One cannot identify how hard to be raring an autistic children if she/he's not an autistic parent her/himself. To understand or to gain a depth of knowledge about autism, one should be a parent oneself and the other may work closely with the children over a period of time. Autism is an especially hurtful form of childhood disability for parents, who may be deeply injured by a child's unresponsiveness and inability to show affection. This disorder said to be no cure and in that aspect; it should be given a prime importance before it become too late.