Monday, December 21, 2009

Action Alert

This Action Alert comes from Washington Autism Advocacy

Today Centers for Disease Control announced there was a 57% prevalence increase in ASD's from 2002 to 2006. CDC is NOT attributing the increase solely to improved diagnostics. "...These results indicate an increased prevalence of identified ASDs among U.S. children aged 8 years and underscore the need to regard ASDs as an urgent public health concern. Continued monitoring is needed to document and understand changes over time, and concerted efforts are needed to provide support for persons with ASDs, their families, and communities to improve long-term outcome." What better way to provide support for persons with ASD's than to make sure evidence based healthcare based on National Standards and sound scientific findings are covered by insurance. Law makers are coming back to face a REALLY tough session. Some of them KNOW autism is an urgent public health concern. 81 agreed it's time for private insurance to do it's share. We agree, we're making our message simple: My name is ______________ and I am your constituent. I am calling to wish you a peaceful & joyous holiday season and to ask you a favor. Will you please cosponsor Shayan's Law, Autism Insurance Parity. Shayan's law will not cost any money. It will save the state millions in efficiencies & will potentially create 2400 new jobs. Thank them for their work-- (Be polite, positive, and succinct: they work very hard and long hours until the end of session) If the legislative aid asks you any questions that you can't answer, please don't make a guess, refer them to me: Arzu@WashingtonAutismAdvocacy.org. We need to make contact, by calling every single legislator in the state and ask them to cosponsor Autism Insurance Parity. 3 phone calls! Followed up by 3 e-mails to send them our AIP Brief-fact-sheet. Click here for Contact information. I am so grateful to all of you to giving us your voice and your continued support. Please let me know as soon as you hear "I Do!" These lawmakers cosponsored Shayan's law last session, we need their continued support. If you don't see your legislator's name below, be sure to contact them, if you don't hear yes, find out their questions/concerns & let us know.

Representatives Williams, Roach, O'Brien, Kirby, Anderson, Pettigrew, Appleton, Dick erson, Dunshee, Darneille, White, Pedersen,Goodman, Campbell, McCune, Rodne, Haler, Priest, Sells, Green, Morrell, Hunt, Blake, Upthegrove, Wood, Orwall, Conway, Ericks,Moeller, Flannigan, Kenney, Ormsby, Hasegawa, Eddy, Rolfes, Liias, Roberts, Takko, Seaquist, Chase, Hurst, Sullivan, Wallace,Carlyle, Clibborn, Springer, Kelley, Ross, McCoy, Maxwell, Miloscia

Senators Hobbs, Pflug, Fairley, Haugen, Swecker, Rockefeller, Tom, Marr, Pridemore, King, Delvin, Murray, KohlWelles, Regala,McAuliffe, McDermott, Kastama, Becker, Kline, Jarrett, Oemig, Brown, Kauffman, Fraser, Shin, Parlette, Kilmer, Brandland, Roach Thank you very much in advance for this. With my warmest regards, Arzu Visit our Family Forum for resource on insurance & Medicaid coverage of ASD treatments http://www.washingtonautismadvocacy.org/family/ Stay informed- Join WAA in support of state & federal legislation improving lives of individuals with autism

Best regards,

Arzu

Autism Jumps 57%

Autism Jumps 57% in Just 4 Years

1 in 110 U.S. Kids Has Autism, CDC Study Confirms
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Dec. 18, 2009 – Autism disorders increased by 57% in just four years, the CDC today reported.

By the end of 2006, one in 110 U.S. kids had an autism disorder diagnosed by age 8: one in 70 boys and one in 315 girls, reflecting a nearly fivefold higher risk for males.

The new CDC estimate of autism prevalence, obtained from analysis of child evaluation records in 11 states, is virtually identical to autism numbers reported for 2007 from a huge telephone survey reported last October.

Are today's kids really more likely to have autism, or are doctors and parents just getting better at recognizing this family of developmental disorders?

"At this point it is hard to say how much is a true increase and how much is improved identification," CDC behavioral health scientist Catherine Rice, PhD, said at a news conference. Rice is the lead author of the CDC report.

Rice admits that no single factor or simple explanation can account for the increase. And advocates for autism research say the size and rapidity of the increase can't be explained away.

"Two decades ago we were looking at a prevalence of one in 5,000 children. Now we're looking at one in 100. That really is a staggering increase," Geraldine Dawson, PhD, chief science officer of advocacy group Autism Speaks, tells WebMD.

Dawson said the new numbers justify a huge increase in federal spending on research and treatment.

"The question is what will it take for the federal government to begin to respond to this crisis," Dawson says. "President Obama during the election campaign made a promise that there would be a billion dollars spent every year on finding the causes of autism. We feel that this kind of data coming from a CDC study really requires that level of response."

Rice expressed similar concern.

"The CDC considers autism spectrum disorders to be a significant public health issue," she said. "This report underscores the need for a coordinated and strong response to improve lives of people with ASDs."

Parents Detect Autism Earlier

A major finding from the CDC study was that the vast majority of parents of children with an autism disorder -- 70% -- expressed concern over their child's development when the child was younger than 3 years old. Most expressed concern by the time the child was 2.

Yet children were, on average, four and a half years old before they were diagnosed with an autism disorder.

"The American Academy of Pediatrics has encouraged routine screening of children for autism at ages 18 and 24 months," Rice said. "Pediatricians should listen to parents if they have a concern, but also proactively follow the screening recommendations regardless of whether parents have concerns."

The Rice study was released today by the CDC as special report of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.