LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released shows an increase in autism diagnoses across the United States.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called it an “epidemic,” blaming “environmental exposure” like mold and obesity as potential factors to the rise.
“That is a preventable disease,” Kennedy said. “We know it’s an environmental exposure, and it has to be.”
However, medical experts said the increase comes from better awareness and greater access to screenings.
“You don’t grow out of autism,” Melanie West, the executive director of Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) of Louisville, said. “Autism does not discriminate.”
The report estimates 1 in 31 children under 8 years old were diagnosed with autism in 2022, compared to 1 in 36 in 2020.
“We need that research, it is key,” West said. “Due to the need and the uptick in cases, the need for programming and expanded programing, to offer that more. We see firsthand at FEAT and the importance of, the importance of early intervention, how early intervention is key with anything right and so to be able to to get evaluated, and then to equip the families with the resources.”
She said a group of families started FEAT of Louisville in 1999 because they were trying to find answers to their children’s complex medical needs.
“A lot of our families, they’ve been with us since the beginning, since the diagnosis,” West said.
She said there have been more local evaluations and providers over the years.
Laila Lee Randolph has been with FEAT for years. Her 9-year-old brother is on the spectrum and have been a part of FEAT. Now, she is the nonprofit’s PR and marketing manager.
“It could be very difficult to live in a society where you’re, you’re not necessarily your brains, not necessarily built to function in that society, and places like FEAT really make it so that we can create those safe spaces for people with autism so that they don’t have to feel stigmatized going out places,” Randolph said.
Kennedy said his department will be focusing research on the origins of autism. That research is supposed to begin in September.
“I can hope that there is an understanding of how this started in the first place, or where this comes from in the first place,” Randolph said. “I think to really understand anything, we have to get to the root cause at first.”
FEAT of Louisville is gearing up for their 20th Annual Run/Walk for Autism on May 17. You can register here, and a full list of their events here.