ABC Radio National reported on a disappointing journal article that claims there is no evidence that the number of people with autism has increased since 1990. The stories are:

• Autism rates steady for the past 20 years
• UQ study: autism rates unchanged in 20 years

Contrary to reports that the rates of autism spectrum disorder are on the rise, researchers at the University of Queensland found no evidence of an increase of the condition in the past 20 years.

Transcript

Norman Swan: Autism Spectrum Disorder describes children and adults who have a range of difficulties with communicating, socialising and can also have quite obsessional interests and repetitive behaviours.

Dale Mulligan of Newcastle, denied $1100 a year to pay for lawnmowing, is taking the NDIS to the Federal Court. Picture: Jon Reid Source: Supplied

AUSTRALIANS with disabilities have begun suing the government to break into the National Disability Insurance Scheme, forcing courts and tribunals to navigate the scheme’s early flaws.

Administrative Appeals Tribunal hearings have so far revealed confusion about the NDIS legislation and heard participants were given incorrect information about their entitlements.

One man with emphysema and diabetes was incorrectly told the NDIS would provide an oxygen concentrator and insulin pump, while another was given the wrong information about his avenues for appeal.

MARK COLVIN: Many aspects of what's now called autism spectrum disorder remain mysterious, but a new study from the University of Queensland says the number of people with the disorder is neither rising nor falling.

The university team crunched the numbers on a wide range of research data from 1990 to 2010. They say that around the world one person in 132 has some level of autism spectrum disorder. They say their analysis of the figures shows that that hasn't changed since 1990.

It is possible to recover from autism, say researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College and the University of Denver, who followed 85 children from the time they were diagnosed as toddlers until they were in their late teens.

Their study, reported online May 30 in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, finds that 9 percent of the group improved to the point that they no longer met the diagnostic criteria for autism. Another 28 percent retained features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such as impaired social functioning, but were doing very well in several areas, particularly cognitive and academic functioning, the researchers report. Many in both groups were enrolled in college

"This rate of improvement is much higher than has been reported before, and that fact offers some very good news," says the study's senior investigator, Dr. Catherine Lord, founding director of the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain, a collaboration between Weill Cornell Medical College, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The children who recovered from autism were not misdiagnosed with the disorder as toddlers, Dr. Lord says. At the time of their diagnoses, these children exhibited telltale ASD symptoms such as repetitive behaviors and social dysfunction.

Autism experts are calling for changes in diagnostic testing, saying the current approach is failing to identify the true number of females with the disorder.

They say a massive imbalance in the number of autism diagnoses between the sexes could be attributed to more subtle symptoms in females that are either dismissed by clinicians, or undetected by current testing, which focuses on signs associated with male behaviour.

The Join Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Sceme released its progress report (see link here 10Mb PDF). The report is about the first 12 months in the initial "trial" sites.

In relation to autism, the report says:

LAUREN NOVAK POLITICAL REPORTER THE ADVERTISER

MORE than 1800 children will not be able to join the national disability insurance scheme this financial year as promised, because the administrative body is struggling to process applications fast enough.

In a letter obtained by The Advertiser, the head of the National Disability Insurance Agency warns it is “unlikely” children over the age of nine will be able to join the scheme before mid-next year because of delays in processing applications.

Larissa Nicholson, Reporter

Tim Chan has severe autism and cannot speak or write. He uses an electronic voice-output device to communicate and write poetry. Photo: Getty/Paul Jeffers