Interesting article in the paper that a co-worker gave to me…it states a “Study links autism to asthma and allergies in pregnant women”. Hmm…well as many of you know I work in the disabilities field and serve many, many children with autism. I also have autism in my extended family. This study suggests that “asthma and allergies in expectant mothers may boost by up to 5-% the chances of a child will show signs of autism”. This study sort of has me shaking my head. The first thing that comes to my mind is that there is an increase in asthma and allergies in recent years of as much as 75 %. This in my opinions is probably due to environmental factors, etc. And of course there is an increase in the incidences of autism too…but even in my years in the field, I see much better diagnosis happening with better early intervention for children with autism.
When I first started in this field it was rare to have a child diagnosed before the age of 5 with autism. Now it is common to have a child diagnosed at age 2 and receiving therapy and services. Anyways..interesting to say the least….the study was published in the February issue of the Archives of Pediatirc and Adolescent Medicine by Lisa Croen, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research in California.
I agree…I think people have become more attuned to the nuances and also are more willing to bring their children in to have them diagnosed. Having said that, I didn’t have my child diagnosed (with Aspberger’s) until she was almost 12…oops. But in general, I think parents and people who work with children are more attuned to that sort of thing.