News: Autism Speaks responds to recent publications citing autism clusters in California.

News: Autism Speaks responds to recent publications citing autism clusters in California.:

"NEW YORK, N.Y. (January 21, 2010) Two recent, separate publications identified regions with higher than expected numbers of autism cases or clusters in California. Using data collected by the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) on 2.5 million births including almost 10,000 autism cases from 1996-2000, investigators at UC Davis uncovered several clusters of elevated risk for autism. Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, reviewed these studies and found that the majority of these clusters were found to be strongly associated with higher parental education and, to a lesser extent, with parents of older ages. It is thought that parents with higher levels of education may have better access to the regional diagnostic and service centers in California, as the DDS relies on parents actively seeking services. Thus the distribution of cases is likely influenced by proximity to specialty research and service centers."