WCCO TV Reports on CDC Study Involving ICI

WCCO television — the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul — has reported on a multi-state study in which ICI participated that revealed that childhood autism rates in the Twin Cities are higher than the national average. Conducted by the Institute's Minnesota-Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network (MN-ADDM), the study identified 1 in 42 children (2.4 percent) as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Minnesota. This is higher than the autism prevalence rate of 1 in 59 (1.7 percent) detected among children in 11 communities around the country where prevalence was tracked by the Autism and Developmental Disability Monitoring Network  (ADDM). Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the ADDM Network is a nationwide network of childhood autism studies and this is the first time Minnesota has been involved with it.

WCCO notes that experts say diagnosing autism early is important so children can get the help they need to reach their full potential. Autism can be diagnosed as early as age two, but in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, most cases were diagnosed in children closer to age 5.