Rise in Autism

Why Did Autism Diagnoses Soar?:

Clearly, there are two schools of thought on this issue. On the one hand are those who say that the change in diagnostic criteria, combined with new school statistics and rising awareness of autism all created an apparent (but not real) epidemic. On the other hand are those who say that thimerosal caused the epidemic — and the removal of thimerosal from vaccines means the beginning of the end of the epidemic.

Are Autism Diagnoses Still on the Rise?:

There has been a slight decrease in the number of annual autism diagnoses. This change, in some researchers’ view, is highly significant — and goes a long way toward proving the thimerosal theory. Dr. Robert Davis, director at the immunization safety group at the CDC, however, says the change is not statistically significant, and “[cannot]really be taken to provide any evidence one way or the other.”