Celebrating Autism in April – Updated Autism Prevalence Numbers from CDC

This week, as they do every April, the CDC sent out updated autism prevalence numbers. These rates are determined by the constant data gathering and research done through the ADDM network (https://www.cdc.gov/autism/addm-network/index.html). The Minnesota numbers are 1:28 meaning for every 28 people, 1 is likely to be autistic. The national rate has been updated to 1:31. This research is based on 8 year olds but often generalized to the general population. To learn more about how the rates are determined, go to the ADDM link above.

As someone who has professionally worked with the autism community for more than 12 years, what I’m seeing is an increase in the ability to diagnose autism especially in young girls (the rate of boys diagnosed compared to girls being diagnosed is starting to be more level). Previously, autism was stereotyped as a white boy’s diagnosis. But as we learned more – and more people with the diagnosis began advocating and explaining their experience of autism – the psychology and education systems are slowly catching up though they continue to lag in comparison to the information coming from the autistic community and professionals working in the community.

Autistic minds have always been with us. As society has become more rigid, less curious about others, more defensive, and education systems less flexible, the autistic neurotype began standing out more and people with this brain wiring struggling more with these systems. This has made them more obvious and has also made life much more difficult for this community. Autism has been back in the national political spotlight with misinformation about the neurotype and that misinformation is causing significant harm to the community. Here on campus, we have the privilege, honor, and duty to continue to celebrate neurodivergent neurotypes and to be a beacon of inclusion to guide all of Minnstate and even Minnesota.