NEWS
WAKE-UP CALL
AUTISM RATES IN NEW JERSEY ARE THE HIGHEST IN THE U.S.
T
he rate of autism among
children in New Jersey —
now nearly 3 percent —
is the highest ever
documented nationwide,
with nearly 5 percent
of 8-year-old boys in the state on the
autism spectrum in 2014, according to
a report released by the federal Centers
for Disease Control.
Autism diagnoses in New Jersey have
tripled in 14 years and show no signs
of leveling off, according to the study’s
lead researcher. The rate of increase
accelerated in the most recent two
years, climbing by 19 percent to
vone in 34 children.
SP-24
SPECIAL PARENT
THE NEW JERSEY
AUTISM REGISTRY,
BEGUN IN 2009 IN
THE DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH,
CURRENTLY LISTS
NEARLY 28,000
CHILDREN.
“We don’t understand the reason
for it,” says Walter Zahorodny, director
of the New Jersey autism study and
an associate professor at Rutgers New
Jersey Medical School. In the 14 years
since the monitoring study began, “it
has never stabilized or decreased.”
Living in New Jersey doesn’t nec-
essarily increase the risk that a child
will be born with autism, he says, but
it does increase the likelihood that a
child with autism will be identified and
provided with services earlier. Other
states that found lower rates of autism
“are likely underestimating,” he says.
At a news conference to discuss
the findings, Sen. Bob Menendez
WRITTEN BY LINDY WASHBURN