Here is the full report (for those with an interest)
http://www.dds.ca.gov/Autism/pdf/AutismReport2003.pdf
http://www.dds.ca.gov/Autism/Autism_main.cfm
Message from the Director
May 13, 2003
Autism is the fastest growing disability served by the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS), affecting more than 21,000 persons in California and representing a nearly 100 percent increase in caseload since 1999. California takes these growing numbers very seriously as evidenced by the fact that each of the 21,000 persons who have been diagnosed are receiving services through our 21 regional centers and five developmental centers.
DDS does not conduct research on its clients and, therefore, we do not know the cause of autism. However, through our partnership with the U.C. Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, we are working diligently with the research community to find the answer. California’s efforts in monitoring, researching and providing services to this growing population are recognized throughout the world and have made California a leading resource for information about autism.
As a result of the DDS Autism Initiative, California has made significant improvements and advances in identifying and effectively treating persons in California who have been diagnosed with autism.
Our continuing efforts include the release of the DDS Autism Initiative Highlights and our new report on California’s autism population: Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Changes in the California Caseload: 1999-2002. This report states that from December 1998 through December 2002, persons diagnosed with autism served by DDS increased from 10,360 to 20,377. In addition, between 1987 and December 2002, the population of persons with autism served by DDS increased by 634 percent. The report is based on data of persons served by DDS and professionally diagnosed with full syndrome autism.
The increase does not include children under 3 years of age, persons classified with lesser forms of autism, persons who have not entered California’s voluntary developmental services system or persons who are suspected of having autism, but are not yet diagnosed.
California is not alone in this experience. The rate of growth in the population of persons with autism in California is commensurate with reported increases in other states, such as Georgia, Massachusetts and Minnesota.
Cliff Allenby
DIRECTOR
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES.
and from yahoo news
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=753
&e=1&u=/nm/20030513/sc_nm/health_autism_dc_1
Calif. Autism Rate Doubles in Four Years -Study
Tue May 13, 7:57 PM ET
By Gina Keating
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Autism cases in California nearly doubled over the past four years to more than 20,000 — a phenomenon whose cause may be difficult to pinpoint because it is not related to population increases or the way the disorder is diagnosed, a state study said on Tuesday.
The study, conducted by the California Department of Developmental Services, tracked the number of autism cases referred to 21 regional centers where patients and their families receive government-funded services.
The report showed that the agency’s caseload increased 97 percent — from 10,360 in December 1998 to 20,337 four years later.
Autism is a lifelong neurological disorder that primarily strikes boys, impairing their ability to communicate, interact and emotionally bond with others. Once a rare disorder, autism now is more prevalent than childhood cancer, diabetes and Down syndrome, the study’s author, Dr. Ron Huff, said.
The spectacular rate of increase for autism dwarfs rises of 35 percent to 49 percent for new cases of mental retardation, cerebral palsy and epilepsy in California, he said.
“We are convinced that this is for real,” Huff said. “It has to be taken seriously.” Huff’s study was a follow-up to an earlier report ordered by California lawmakers that showed a 273 percent rise in autism cases statewide between 1987 to 1998.
“All through the 1970s to the mid-1980s, we were looking at a couple of hundred (autistic) kids each year,” Huff said. “Over the next decade we were looking at thousands of new cases each year. Parents were reporting anecdotally that there were a lot more of these kids out there that anyone believed.”
A parallel study, funded by the state and conducted at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, showed that the dramatic increases in California’s autism caseload were not due to changes in population or reporting criteria.
“The study has proven two very clear things: the validity of the diagnosis has not changed and the kids are not moving to California for the services,” the study’s author, Dr. Marian Sigman, said. “That still leaves us with the puzzle of why are we getting this increase in number of cases.”
Preliminary results of a study commissioned by the Department of Developmental Services found high levels of a naturally occurring protein in the blood of newborns who later developed autism, Huff said. That study’s conclusions are due in about three years, he said.