On 25 March 2015, Maureen Durkin discussed trends in the prevalence of autism and explored some of the reasons underlying the recent rise in autism cases.
Her talk was part of the Simons Foundation Autism Research lecture series.
About the Lecture
Once considered an extremely rare childhood mental disorder, autism is now recognized as a common neurodevelopmental disability, affecting more than 1 percent of the population in the U.S. Reasons for the rise in prevalence are not fully understood, but they are likely associated with societal and cultural influences, and the expansion of the concept of autism to a spectrum disorder: autism spectrum disorder.
In this lecture, Maureen Durkin discussed trends in the prevalence of autism, focusing on the role of intellectual disability — both as a co-occurring condition with autism and in terms of using autism as a diagnostic substitute for intellectual disability. She also explored evidence of socioeconomic disparities in access to diagnostic and therapeutic services for autism, the cultural and financial barriers underlying these disparities, and the need to incorporate modern concepts of disability into the epidemiology of autism, placing emphasis not only on primary prevention of impairments but also on enhancement of functioning and social inclusion of people with the disorder.
About the Speaker
Maureen Durkin is an epidemiologist, professor of population health sciences and pediatrics, and Waisman Center investigator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her M.P.H. and Dr.P.H. degrees in epidemiology from Columbia University. She conducts studies on the epidemiology of neurodevelopmental disabilities and is currently principal investigator of the Wisconsin site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network.
