Autism on the rise?

It is no novel fact to those who work with or have children that autism, a developmental disorder that inhibits a child's speech, motor skills and social skills, appears to be on the rise. Recently, the Department of Human and health services released data that suggests that the autism has increased significantly from their last projection. Previously, they believed that the occurrence of children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) was one in every 150. Now, according to the recent report that appeared ion the American Academy of Pediatrics journal, the occurrence is now estimated to be 1 in every 91 children and as much as 1 in every 58 for boys.
Although these results are rather alarming, there are multiple explanations for the rise. One theory is that awareness and diagnosis of ASD has dramatically increased over the last decade. In the past, a child with high-functioning autism would most likely be regarded as just a little odd, whereas now school staff are better equipped with the tools and knowledge to recognize and diagnose children that may possibly be on the Autism spectrum. In addition, the results were skewed due to the fact that many other disorders have been determined to be included in the spectrum. These include Asperger's Syndrome, and surprisingly, ADD and ADHD as well as other PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). The final possibility is that ASD is simply over-diagnosed, just as many other behavioral disorders are.