Press Releases

The Autism Community in Action (TACA) shared the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports, autism prevalence has taken another jump in the wrong direction. A once rare disability in 1970 at 1 to 2 in every 10,000 U.S. children has continued to rise to 1 in 54 U.S. children. Since 2000, this is the seventh increase in the autism prevalence rate as released by the CDC in their “Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network” (ADDM) report.

“Since TACA started over 20 years ago, there have been nine autism prevalence numbers announced by the CDC. With each increase, I think this number will provoke more people to care,” said Lisa Ackerman, Founder and Executive Director of TACA. “This prevalence rate means even more parents are being told their child has autism. When a family receives an autism diagnosis, there is a huge learning curve when it comes to therapies, medical intervention, educational services, legal issues, financial ramifications, and the need for emotional support. A prevalence rate of 1 in 54 can no longer be ignored. Families are counting on us to act and support them. We cannot continue to overlook this epidemic.”

Autism is so prevalent today that almost every U.S. citizen has someone in their direct family who is affected by autism, they know someone with autism, or they know a family who is affected by autism.

Autism Fast Facts:

• From the 2020 report, based off of data collected from eleven states in 2016:
  • 1 in 54 eight-year-old children have an autism diagnosis
  • The 2020 estimate (based off of data collected in 2016), is approximately 175 percent higher than baseline estimates established in 2000
  • Boys were more than four times as likely to be identified with autism than girls
  • Five percent of eight-year-old (1 in 20) boys in New Jersey were identified with autism
• Over 95 percent of children with autism have co-occurring conditions, the average having 4.9 conditions.  Common comorbidities in autism include epilepsy, gastrointestinal issues, sleep disturbances, immune dysfunction, and more.
• The U.S. autism annual cost is $238 billion dollars and is projected to rise to $461 billion by 2025.