Rise in Autism Diagnoses

MINDFULNESS. HELLO, I'M MIKE WALCHER, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. AUTISM RATES ARE ON THE RISE ACROSS THE NATION ACCORDING TO AUTISM SPEAKS THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN IDENTIFIED WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER HAS INCREASED BY NEARLY 300% OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS. SO WHAT HAS LED TO THIS SURGE IN DIAGNOSIS WG ISSUES? JENNIFER CRAWFORD HAS MORE ON THE AWARENESS EFFORTS BEING MADE WITH AUTISM AND THE SIGNS YOU SHOULD LOOK FOR. >> AUTISM IS NOW AFFECTING ONE IN 31 CHILDREN NATIONWIDE. AS MORE CHILDREN ARE BEING DIAGNOSED, MORE SERVICES ARE NEEDED TO HELP KIDS AND THEIR FAMILIES. SHERRIE CAMPBELL, IS A NURSE PRACTITIONER FROM LEE HEALTH. SHE JOINS US NOW WITH MORE INFORMATION ON AUTISM. HOW TO SCREEN FOR IT THIS CAMPBELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. CAN YOU FIRST DESCRIBE WHAT AUTISM IS FOR OUR AUDIENCE? YES, AUTISM IS A >> DEFINED AS DELAYS AND SOCIAL COMMUNICATION. >> AND A RECENT HAVE A CHILD WHO ALSO HAS RESTRICTED AND REPETITIVE BEHAVIORS AND TO UNDERSTAND SOCIAL COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION IS BACK AND FORTH WITH SPEECH AND NONVERBAL GESTURES AND THINGS. BUT THE SOCIAL ASPECT OF IT IS THE EYE CONTACT AND THE AND BACK AND FORTH ABLE TO HAVE A MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION WITH SOMEBODY AND PREVIOUSLY WE WE LOOKED AT AUTISM IS HAVING SOCIAL SKILLS, DELAY, SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DELAY AND RESTRICTIVE AND REPETITIVE BEHAVIORS WHEN THEY MODIFIED THE MOST RECENT DEFINITION OF THE DIAGNOSIS THAT CALL THAT SOCIAL COMMUNICATION. SO MANY CHILDREN HAVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS WHERE THEY HAVE A LOT OF WORDS AND MAYBE THEY CAN RE-SIGN ALL THE WORDS IN A BOOK, BUT THEY CAN'T USE THOSE WORDS TO COMMUNICATE THEIR WANTS AND NEEDS. AND THAT'S WHAT WE CALL SOCIAL COMMUNICATION. >> KNOW HOW EARLY MIGHT APPARENT NOTICE THESE BEHAVIORS AS BEING DIFFERENT. THEN WHAT MAY BE ANOTHER CHILD THAT THEY'RE WELL ACQUAINTED WITH HAS. >> WELL, USUALLY THE FIRST SIGN HAS A SPEECH DELAY. AND THAT'S REALLY MORE NOTICEABLE AROUND 18 MONTHS BECAUSE IT 18 MONTHS WHO WANT ABOUT 18 TO 20 WORD, SPONTANEOUS WORDS, NOT REPEAT WORDS, BUT SOMETIMES AS EARLY AS 12 OR 14 MONTHS, WE CAN SEE SOME SIGNS. CHILDREN SHOULD BE POINTING THE THINGS THAT ARE AROUND 14 MONTHS. THINGS OF INTEREST ARE THINGS THAT THEY WANT A PARENT TO LOOK AT WITH THEM. THAT'S USUALLY AROUND 14 MONTHS. SOMETIMES WE CAN KIND OF GET SUSPICIOUS AROUND 12 MONTHS OF CHILD IS NOT WAVING, BYE-BYE OR CLAPPING. WE'RE SHOWING THAT EYE CONTACT. SO AND ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS CAN BE MADE AROUND 18 MONTHS. WE'VE BEEN WORKING HARD TO BE ABLE TO FIND WAYS TO MAKE AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS BELOW 18 MONTHS AS EARLY AS 12 MONTHS. BUT WE HAVEN'T BEEN CONSISTENTLY ABLE TO DO THAT. SO RIGHT NOW WHAT WE WOULD SAY IS AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS CAN BE MADE AROUND 18 MONTHS. BUT DEFINITELY BY 24 MONTHS NOW, I WILL SAY SOME OF THE HIGHER FUNCTIONING KIDS. WE MAY NOT GET DIAGNOSED UNTIL SCHOOL AGE. AND I KNOW WE EVEN HAVE SOME ADULTS WHO ARE GETTING A LATE DIAGNOSIS BECAUSE THEY WERE VERY MILDLY IMPACTED BY THE TRADITIONAL DIAGNOSED IN O J S SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH TIGHTNESS. >> WHY IS THAT EARLY DIAGNOSIS? SO IMPORTANT. >> ALL THE RESEARCH IS SHOWING THAT WHEN WE IDENTIFY TOO EARLY TO MAKE THE GREATEST SKATES AND YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT IF IT'S THEIR SPEECH DELAY IN, THEY HAVE TROUBLE COMMUNICATING WHAT THEY WANT AND WHAT THEY NEED. THEY CAN HAVE BEHAVIORAL ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH FREQUENT TANTRUMS N AND THOSE THINGS CAN SNOWBALL INTO OTHER THINGS. BUT ALL THE RESEARCH SHOWS AND IDENTIFY KIDS EARLY. WE COULD GET THEM THE SERVICES THEY NEED, WHICH INCLUDE PHYSICAL THERAPY, POSSIBLY BUT PRIMARILY SPEECH THERAPY AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY AND BEHAVIOR THERAPY, WHICH IS THE BEST TREATMENT FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM. BUT THOSE THINGS NEED TO START EARLY FOR THEM TO MAKE THE GREATEST GAINS. >> AND HOW PREVALENT IS THIS DIAGNOSIS AMONG CHILDREN? I UNDERSTAND IT REALLY IS GROWING QUITE A BIT. >> IT'S GROWING QUITE A BIT. WE STARTED AUTISM SCREENING PROGRAM IN 2009 AND THERE THEY WERE QUOTING ONE IN 120 CHILDREN AT THAT TIME. AND I THINK THEY'RE SAYING ONE IN 31 CHILDREN. SO I THINK PART OF THAT AS WE'RE GETTING BETTER IDENTIFYING AUTISM, I THINK CHILDREN THAT. AND MORE ACCURATELY DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM. EARLIER ON, WE'RE GETTING A POSSIBLY REPUTATION OR SOME OTHER ISSUE OR THEY WERE JUST BEING FELT TO BE QUIRKY KIDS. BUT THEY'RE CERTAINLY SOMETHING GOING ON, THOUGH, THAT INCOME IS INCREASING. THE INCIDENCE OF AUTISM. WE THERE ARE A LOT OF STUDIES LOOKING AT CHEMICALS AND GENETICS AND THINGS LIKE WE WE REALLY DON'T KNOW. >> CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT WHAT LEE HEALTH IS DOING TO HELP SCREEN FOR AUTISM? >> WELL, THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS IS RECOMMENDED FOR MANY YEARS THAT CHILDREN GET SCREENING FOR AUTISM IN 18 MONTHS. AND 24 MONTHS AT THEIR PRIMARY CARE PROVIDER OFFICE, MOST PRIMARY CARE PROVIDERS DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF TIME BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO ALSO GO THE VACCINES AND GO OR THE OTHER ISSUE. SO A LOT OF CHILDREN ARE GETTING THOSE SCREENINGS DONE. SO LEE HOUSE HAD A COMMITMENT TO CALL CENTRE. CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS HAD A COMMITMENT TO THE SCREEN PROGRAM SINCE 2009. SO FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS WE'VE BEEN PROVIDING THE SCREEN SERVICE. IT'S FREE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A DOCTOR'S REFERRAL OR ANYTHING SO THAT WE CAN START THE BALL ROLLING FOR PARENTS WHO MIGHT HAVE A CONCERN. BUT REALLY, WE INTENDED FOR THE PROGRAM TO SCREEN ALL CHILDREN THAT HAVEN'T HAD A SCREEN AT 18 TO 24 MONTHS BECAUSE THAT'S HOW YOU CATCH THE CHILDREN ARE. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THIS IS GREAT INFORMATION. THANK YOU FOR SHARING TODAY. JOINING US. >> THANK YOU FOR HELPING US GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT PROGRAM.