In anticipation of Autism Awareness month, the ADDM Network recently released Autism prevalence reports for the 2020 surveillance year (SY2020). For SY2020, the network provides ASD prevalence estimates and characteristics of 8- and 4-year-old children living in 11 communities throughout the United States. The data for Missouri represents St. Louis County, St. Louis City, St. Charles, Franklin and Jefferson counties.
All of the materials associated with the SY2020 data release can be found here on the CDC’s website, including an analysis of how the onset of COVID-19 delayed evaluation and ASD detection particularly for the 4-year-old cohort. For your convenience, we have attached both the 8 and 4-year-old MMWR Surveillance Summaries as well as the Missouri-specific pages from the Community Report. Please share the reports and data with any staff, families or other interested individuals in our state.
Network-wide
- About 1 in 36 (2.8%) of 8-year-old children and 1 in 59 (1.7%) 4-year-old children were identified with ASD.
- More Black, Hispanic, and Asian or Pacific Islander children were identified with autism than White children for the first time.
- Children born in 2016 (4yo) were 1.6 times as likely to be identified as having ASD by 48 months compared to children born in 2012 (8yo).
- Approximately 1/3 of children with ASD also had intellectual disability.
Missouri Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring
- About 1 in 41 (2.5%) of 8-year-old children were identified with ASD.
- 75% of children aged 4 years with ASD had an evaluation by age 36.
- Children born in 2016 (4yo) were almost 1.8 times as likely to receive ASD diagnosis or ASD special education classification by 48 months compared to children born in 2012 (8yo).