For Immediate Release
April 26, 2018

Contact: Laurie Cramer
Executive Director
Autism Society of Greater Akron
Phone: 330-940-1441 x 3

1:59 Children now Identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder According to New CDC Report
Autism Society of Greater Akron concerned, but not surprised

(Akron, OH, April 26, 2018) … About 1 in 59 eight-year-old children were identified as having autism, according to a new report published today in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Surveillance Summary. This latest estimate is higher than the previous estimate released in 2016, which found a prevalence of 1 in 68. The statistics in this report come from CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network – a tracking system that provides estimates on the prevalence and characteristics of autism spectrum disorder among more than 300,000 children.

“While we are not surprised to see this increase in the autism population, we are concerned,” said Laurie Cramer, Executive Director of the Autism Society of Greater Akron. “Each day, we see the increased demand for programs and services related to autism. Families and individuals impacted by autism are reaching out for help more than ever before, and the resources available to them have not caught up to the increased demand. We recently released our pdf statement on legislative policies (766 KB) which address how to better address those needs. Local, state and federal representatives need to be encouraged to work with us and other disability-related organizations to better support those living with autism today.”

For additional information on the announcement of the CDC, or the Autism Society of America’s national policy statement, visit www.autism-society.org. If you need to talk with someone about autism or need help finding resources for a person living with autism, call the Autism Society of America’s professionally staffed Autism Source Contact Center at 1-800-3-AUTISM.