Israeli Research Reveals Sharp Rise In Autism Diagnoses Among Children‌ ‌

Autism awareness collage. An Israeli study revealed that between 2017 and 2021, toddlers up to three years old were four times more likely to be diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) than in the past. FREEPIK.COM.

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My mom, a daycare teacher, recently told me that over the past decade, she and her colleagues have been seeing a gradual increase in children who exhibit behavior associated with autism. Many of these children are later diagnosed with the neurodevelopmental disorder.

“It could be that what your mother and her colleagues are seeing are characteristics that the children exhibited in the past; just weren’t as aware of them as they are now,” Idan Menashe, director of Israel’s national autism research center, tells ISRAEL21c.

Indeed, an Israeli study published last January revealed that between 2017 and 2021, toddlers up to three years old were four times more likely to be diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) than in the past. Children aged four and older were twice as likely to be diagnosed.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 36 children in the United States was diagnosed with autism in 2020, compared to 1 in 150 children in 2000.

“The increase in new diagnoses stems from an increase in awareness among parents and educators, and improved diagnostic capabilities,” says Menashe, adding there’s no evidence that more autistic people are being born as time goes on.

“Additionally, today many adults who have never been diagnosed, and no one really suspected they should be, receive the autism diagnosis,” he adds.

What is now classified as ASD used to be split into three different neurodevelopmental conditions: autism, Asperger’s syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS).

Tesla founder Elon Musk and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg both have described themselves as being on the autism spectrum.