Rising Autism Rates: Why and What You Can Do

by Maria Rickert Hong

With rising autism rates, the autism rate is now 1 in 36 children. Learn how viewing autism as a whole-body condition can help your child in this webinar interview of Beth Lambert, the Executive Director of Epidemic Answers and the Documenting Hope Project. You can watch the replay below.

Rising Autism Rates

The autism rate is now believed to be 1 in 36 children, which is 2.8% of children, 4% of boys, and 1 in 20 boys (5%) in California. When Epidemic Answers opened its doors in 2009, the autism rate was 1 in 150.

We ARE better at diagnosing autism due to increased awareness and due to better diagnostic tools and tracking, but it simply cannot account for the meteoric increase in children with autism since the 1980s. If we’ve gone from 1 in 150 children in 2009 to 1 in 36 in 2023 due to better diagnosing, this means we “missed” about 1.5 million kids (or 75% of those diagnosable).

Our Senior Scientist, Randy Reiserer, looked at the U.S. Department of Education IDEA data, which documents increases in the services in school provided to children with autism from 2005 to 2019 by state. In this chart, you can see that states were paying increasing amounts for autism services in that time period. States would not have made these payments unless there was a verifiable diagnosis. Thus, these data help prove that rising autism rates weren’t simply due to better diagnosis.

Autism Is a Whole-Body Condition

We have a dramatic and frank epidemic on our hands. So what can you do about it? At Epidemic Answers and our Documenting Hope Project, we look at autism (as well as most other chronic and developmental conditions) as whole-body conditions. By addressing root causes such as toxicity, nutritional deficiencies, gut dysbiosis, inflammation and immune dysregulation, children can heal from the collection of symptoms known as autism. Not all children can or do, but there are far more success stories out there than what you’re probably hearing about.

In This Webinar

In this webinar, Beth Lambert discussed:

What’s behind rising autism rates?
Why should we look at autism as a whole-body condition?
What are Epidemic Answers and the Documenting Hope Project doing about this?
What are some success stories of kids that have healed from autism?
What are some resources people can use to help their child heal?
What can parents do to help their child heal?

Please note that you will be asked to provide your email address at the 30-minute mark to continue viewing the replay.

About Beth Lambert

Beth Lambert is a former healthcare consultant and teacher. As a consultant, she worked with pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic and other health care companies to evaluate industry trends.

She is the author of A Compromised Generation: The Epidemic of Chronic Illness in America’s Children (Sentient Publications, 2010).

She is also a co-author of Epidemic Answers’ Brain Under Attack: A Resource for Parents and Caregivers of Children with PANS, PANDAS, and Autoimmune Encephalitis.

In 2009, Beth founded Epidemic Answers and currently serves as Executive Director. Beth attended Oxford University and graduated from Williams College and holds a Masters Degree in American Studies from Fairfield University. She is a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society. Beth is also the mother of three children.

Disclaimer

This webinar is not a substitute for medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or consultation with a medical professional. It is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be relied on to make determinations related to treatment of a medical condition. Epidemic Answers has not verified and does not guaranty the accuracy of the information provided in this webinar.

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