The number of children with autism in the state has more than doubled in the past decade, according to a report released this week by the Arkansas Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
The report states that one in 65 children in Arkansas has an autism spectrum disorder. The program last studied autism numbers statewide in 2002. At that time one in 145 children was identified with autism.
Nationally one in 68 children is determined to have autism, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Thursday. In 2012 that number was one in 88 , the report states.
Records of 8-year-old children living in Arkansas were used for the report, said Allison Hudson, project coordinator for the Arkansas Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Program. She said about 250 health-care providers and schools provided the program with records of more than 7,000 children.
The data showed that boys are four times more likely than girls to be autistic, and autism is more prevalent among white children, the report states.
Hudson said there is noidentifiable reason for the increase in autism cases. She said it is believed that more awareness of the disorder and better diagnostic tools are behind the higher numbers.
The increase in autism numbers wasn’t a surprise to Dr. Maya Lopez, a UAMS developmental behavioral pediatrician who worked on the report. Lopez also works with children who have behavioral or learning disabilities.
“I think one thing is clear to us at the developmental center,” Lopez said. “There is a growing number of autism [cases] in our society.”
The report noted that officials believe about 23 percent of children in the state have autism but have not been classified as autistic by a health-care or educational provider. Lopez said the number could be higher in rural, poor areas or amongminority groups, adding that it is important that children with autism be diagnosed early.
“Early intervention is what works,” Lopez said. “The earlier we can intervene, the earlier we can train a child to have better social skills, the better the outcome is for that child.”
Kimberley Parker runs Exceptional Advocacy in Bentonville, which provides services to children in Northwest Arkansas whohave learning or behavioral disorders. She helps parents advocate for better services in public schools in the area and said it is common to see children with undiagnosed autism.
“There are tests out there that can identify if a kid is autistic at 6 or 7 months of age,” Parker said. “I have clients coming to me, and their kids are getting identified at 7 or 8 years old. Those early years are lost.”
Parker’s 9-year-old son is autistic. She hopes that more knowledge about autism will improve services for autistic children in the state. She said some school districts, for example, are behind in providing services like Applied Behavior Analysis.
Applied Behavior Analysis is a form of autistic therapy that has been endorsed by the U.S. surgeon general along with the New York state Department of Health, according to the website for Autism Speaks, a national advocacy organization.
The treatment helps autistic children learn basic skills, Parker said, by breaking simple tasks into smaller steps.
For example, “if you want a child to open the book to page 45 and read the chapter, then you have to teach them to put the pencil down, go get the book, then open thebook,” Parker said. Once they practice those skills over and over again, “you can teach them.”
Ian, Parker’s son, had difficulty with social skills. She said it took practice for him to engage in conversation. Applied Behavior Analysis techniques helped him, she said.
“You can do social training with these kids,” Parker said. “The playground is a good environment for that. I couldn’t just say, ‘Go play with those’ to Ian because he didn’t even know how to enter the conversation. You have to teach them everything else that everyone else knows how to do.”
Some programs at UAMS have been key to helping educators and health-careproviders provide better services in the state, Parker said.
“I think for a long time here in Arkansas, we didn’t have the professionals to deliver these services,” Parker said. She said UAMS brought experts into the state, and those specialists have beentraining others here.
Lopez said she works with several organizations, one being Healthy Childcare Arkansas. Through that organization, she teaches childcare providers the symptoms of autism. She also teaches them how to help autistic children.
“It is imperative for us to be out there and try to influence the resources we have to better serve the kids and promote the ability for the individuals to be more productive,” Lopez said. “We have to be out there and part of projects.”
Also, it is important to remember that these children are more than numbers, said Shelley Hendrix, director of grass-roots development forAutism Speaks.
“I think people in America get immune to numbers,” and they need to realize that each autism number represents “a person and that person could need help,” Hendrix said. “For every one in 68, that isa Johnny, Jimmy, Samantha or Julie. They are real people.”
Hendrix advocates for autism legislation at the state and national levels. She said Autism Speaks helped people in Arkansas rally for changes in laws on private insurance health-care plans in 2011. A bill was passed that year that requires most private insurance companies to cover Applied Behavior Analysis. She said a company that is self-insured is not required under the law to provide the services.
The organization also works to make people aware of autism, she said.
For instance, on World Autism Awareness Day - April 2 - some community organizations and individuals will light their buildings in blue to draw attention to autism. The state Capitol in Little Rock will be participating, along with several other city government buildings around the state, Hendrix said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/28/2014