Autism: 1 in Every 88 Children in U.S. Have Disorder

New report by CDC says autism in children is up 78% in last decade

A new report released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that autism rates in the U.S. continue to rise.

The latest data shows that autism cases are up 78 percent in the last decade in children.

But the most shocking statistic is that now 1 in every 88 U.S. children have the disorder. Boys with autism continue to outnumber girls 5-to-1. It estimates that 1 in 54 boys in the United States have autism. Every two years, researchers count how many 8-year-olds have autism in about a dozen communities across the nation.

Mark Roithmayr, president of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, is calling the latest report the sign that autism is an epidemic in the U.S.

"More children are being diagnosed with autism because of better diagnosis, broader diagnosis, better awareness, and roughly 50% of 'We don't know.'"

Autism is found more commonly in white children than black and Hispanic children. Many attribute the rise in Hispanics and blacks with autism to better identification in minority groups.

[ALSO READ: Autism In Black Community]

“Better identification in minority groups could explain some of the overall increase, but more children are being identified in all three groups,” Wingate says.

The CDC is working with the Academy of American Pediatrics to recommend that children get screened for autism at ages 18 months and 24 months.

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