Tag: identification

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Disability

New 1 in 59 CDC Autism Prevalence Rates Approach Reality

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Shannon Des Roches Rosa Today the CDC released new autism prevalence numbers of 1 in 59, or 1.7%. As we wrote in 2014 after the CDC adjusted its autism prevalence rate to 1 in 68, it’s important to keep calm and think critically about what these readjusted numbers actually mean: We are getting better at finding and diagnosing autistic kids. This is good news. As the CDC press release states, “Autism prevalence among black and Hispanic children is approaching that of white children.” This means that more autistic kids who need support will have the opportunity to get it. Many researchers and experts have long considered the CDC’s estimated autism prevalence rates to be too low, and consider the 1 in 38 estimate from a 2011 study of autism prevalence in South Korea to be more realistic. This is not evidence of some sort of “autism epidemic.” Much of the…

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Disability

Things That Are Useful: Neurodiversity Tees

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[Image description: Close up of a black t-shirt with a blue and green combined brain/planet earth illustration, with the word “NEURODIVERSITY” under it. Worn by a partially visible teen boy with beige skin and gray shorts.] My son chooses his outfits each day with care and deliberation, and an eye for specific color combinations. One of his favorite shirts is a  Neurodiversity tee, which ranks second only to the Catbus tee in terms of “if it is not clean there will be much sadness and reiteration of sadness so please just make sure it is clean.” For those unfamiliar with Neurodiversity, it is a pride-tinged term used by folks in the autism and autistic communities to describe themselves: “The idea of neurodiversity was developed by autistic people in opposition to the pathologizing model. According to them autistic people are not disordered. They have a different sort of order. Their brains…