The Science Behind Autism and the 'Developmental Disorders': Tortuous or Tortured?

Abstract

California, in 1999, had been on high alert for some time. Level one autism, without any of its "spectrum," went from almost five thousand cases in late summer 1993 to an estimated 20,377 cases by December 2002. As California's Department of Developmental Services stood by incredulously, it witnessed a tripling of California's autism rate, and all but 15 percent of cases were in children.California wasn't alone. But its autism rates had become the fastest growing group in that state's developmental disability system, and a number of Bay Area school districts were forced to fill entire classes with youths with different forms of autism.But even in the midst of California's mini-epidemic, its Santa Clara County seemed particularly singled out. The Department of Social Services Aid, brokered by the San Andreas Regional Center, staggered to its breaking point, and its forecast for autism in Santa Clara wasn't good.