In his time Confirmation hearings Two weeks ago to correct the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mentioned several claims about autism.
Kennedy, an environmental lawyer Books, lectures and money earned through disputes When sharing vaccine skepticism, he refused that vaccines do not affect autism, despite many high quality studies.
Autism rates “Heard from 10,000 to 1 … And today is 34 years old” His claims repeated Donald Trump repeatedly.
It is not clear where Kennedy got his 1 10,000 statistics. 2000. A year, 150 children born in 1992, 150. They were diagnosed by 2020, in which 36 children born in 2012 were diagnosed data From disease control and prevention centers.
Psychiatrist and autism experts say ABC News is important to highlight the rise rates of autism, and at least Kennedy puts a focus.
“I think it’s very important in the bright side to put a focus on autism, a higher rate,” Dr. Karen Pierce, Professor of the Neuroscience Department. The director of the University of California, the Center for Excellence in San Diego and UCSD Autism, ABC News said. “We need more funding. We need more infrastructure to help everyone recognized as a spectrum. So I think that’s really a good thing.”
However, experts said Kennedy and others lack the important context why they are increasing autism rates. The reason for the definition of spectrum and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) related symptoms and children with older ages may have better awareness and diagnostic test access.
“The rates are definitely increasing, there are valid reasons,” Pierce said. “There is better consciousness and doctors can find autism so much easier than before it’s easier than before … and I think it’s a great reason that it is easier to review today and reviews.”
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the candidate for President Trump is the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
What is autism?
ASD is the disability of development development, caused by the differences in the brain, according to CDC.
People with ASD often communicate, interacting, play and learn differently, CDCK says. Asd symptoms usually start before 3 years and can last a long life, even if the symptoms can be changed over time.
“There may be differences when reading and interprets social areas, and there are some behavioral, and the clinical director of the Koegel Autism Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara said, ABC said the news.
“Therefore, these priority for tenderness is difficulty with transition, cognitive and behavioral stiffnesses,” he continued. “We also see vivid interests, we want to investigate super, super super, super, super, super and desired topics, repetitive words and engine movements. And then we also see significant sensory differences.”
The ASD spectrum means to change the symptoms according to the person. Some need little help in everyday life and some need a great help in daily activities. Some may have advanced dialogue skills and others have not been verbal.
Wider recognition, better understanding
Experts told the ABC news to better understand what is understood as a wider recognition and autism / ASD.
In the early 1900s, autism was described Symptoms of the most severe cases of schizophreniaAnd many years were thought to be psychiatric.
The characteristics of what is known as ASD are early observations made in the 1940s of Dr. Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger’s Psychiatrist.
A 1943 paper Kanners described 11 children who presented the “autistic disorders of affective contact” while they described asperger 1944 Report They marked social difficulties aimed at boys; unusual interests and circumference; and good verbal skills.
Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in the US
CDC
It wasn’t until 1978 Autism was recognized as a development disorder The Health Organization of Humanity distinguishes from schizophrenia. It was also in the 1970s to describe psychologists and psychiatrists for the first time as a spectrum of autism.
“When autism was first described, he understands that communication and behavior were limited and repetitive in society, and mostly knew Dr. Jeremy Veenstra-Vanderweele, Director of Children and Adolescents from Columbia University ABC told the news.
“And so if you read initial descriptions, we would recognize the children in the waiting room, recognized in the grocery store, autism would be very obvious and should not diagnose a lot of evaluation,” he continued.
Better diagnostic tools
Experts say to have another reason to increase rates Better diagnostic tools than what was available decades ago.
Not the only tool used as a basis for an ID diagnosis. Typically, tools are an observation of children’s development parents or caregivers and the behavior of children according to CDC.
Today, the Autism Association will project the children’s pediatric three times three times the signs of autism three times, nine, 18 to 24 or 30 months. If a child shows the symptoms of ASD, a sharp diagnostic test can take a specialist with a whole neuropsychological study.
In addition, the American Psychiatric Association’s Mental disorders, a fifth edition diagnostic and statistical manual (DSM-5) offers standard criteria for diagnosing autism.
Under DSM-5, a child meets the criteria if they have deficits in three social communication and interaction areas and limit at least four limited behavior.
Although the first edition of DSM came out in 1952, it was not until the third edition, DSM-3, in which autism is listed according to a completely new “class” – sustainable development disorders.
Veenstra-Vanderweeele said the change of criteria is another reason why they diagnose autism. He encouraged the definition of what it means is high.
“If only a crude example was six feet long, if someone would be taller than someone, and then 30 years later, there are more than 10 foot more than 10 feet high, and that happened here A part of what happened, “he said.
Pierce attached that due to limited knowledge and awareness in the past, subdiag may be diagnosed and misdieved that there were many children.
“It’s understandable that people don’t necessarily think that someone has autism because no one knew what autism was really,” he said. “So you know, large numbers of people were placed in the book in addition to being special educational needs, maybe as a language delay or cognitive impairment.”
Older age of reproduction
Some studies suggested that people who are pregnant in a minor age suggested that a child with autism has a greater risk of childbirth.
A Review and meta-analysis 16 Papers from 16 rapids in New York, London, Israel and Sweden were found the risk of advanced mother and autism.
The advanced expert in the father can also be a risk factor. A 2006 study The researchers of New York carried out, with London and Israel for men over 40 more than 40 times in accordance with men with less than 30 years after controlling other factors.
However, questions are still at risk of parents and are persuaded by all researchers.
“I know there are some research on mother and father of autism, and research has been carried out about environmental causes,” Krasnok said. “I think the earth is always firmly ground, and it’s genetic. So I don’t know the exact correlation between age and diagnostic rate, but we know that they are associated with diagnosis of genetics.”
Environmental risk factors
Researchers are also distributed when environmental risk factors affect autism.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences He says “clearest evidence” at birth and have no events, including prenatal for air pollution or pesticides; mother’s obese or diabetes; extreme premature; and periods of deprivation of brain oxygen at birth.
“But these factors are unlikely to affect autism. But rather, the child seems to increase the probability of developing autism” in combination of genetic factors, “said Niehs on its website.
Pierce said from the reading study, evidence suggests that autism is a genetic situation. It added that it can have environmental factors, but “to a small level.”
Myth that vaccines causes autism
The myth that vaccines caused autism was born as a result of the 1998 fraud, measles, pieces, ruble to assumption that the swan had caused intestinal inflammation.
Since then, the papers have been dismissed by health experts, and Journal published by Andrew Wakefield and its main author, after research after research, after researching research after research.
Chicago’s Chicago Health Center MMR, Mumps or rubel vaccination in 2019.
Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune / TNS / Getty Images
More than a dozen of high quality studies have not found evidence of a link between children vaccinations and autism.
However, Kennedy has quickly maintained this claim, saying, in an interview with 2023, he believes autism coming from vaccines.
In HHS confirmation hearings, Kennedy said it was not “vaccine” but “security”. At the same time, Kennedy repeatedly refused to hear the hearings, that vaccines were not associated with autism, still emphasizing the vaccine in general.
Experts say that ABC news suggests the link between vaccines and autism, and can be dangerous to perpetuate myth.
“It’s a lie and it doesn’t matter if it’s a lie. When people listen, then they think it’s true that all efforts in Hercul,” Pierce said. “There is no evidence, and it’s really very difficult to suggest that there are very strong evidence in terms of scientific evidence.”
Christopher Banks President of America’s President and Director General, said false claims, deviation of the economic resources necessary that vaccines causes autism.
“Instead of supporting support and therapies and therapies, it is wasted in unnecessary time and financing theory.” He said. “This misinformation also fueled by stigma, which means it is something instead of understanding and protecting autism, moving towards autism discrimination.”
Dr. ABC News’ Jade Coobern, Cheyenne Haslett and McDuffie will help this report.
