upFRONT spring 07.FINAL.rev - University of Pennsylvania School ...

care to change the world
about the research
The goal of the Autism and Developmental
Disabilities Monitoring Network (ADDM)
CADDRE research is to provide
comparable, population-based estimates
of the prevalence rates of ASDs at
different sites, allowing the CDC to
understand the national impact of autism
and determine if ASDs affect different
ethnic groups or geographic areas more
than others. In February, the ADDM
CADDRE Network released its data for
approximately 407,600 children who were
eight years old in 2002. The overall mean
of ASD prevalence was 6.6 per 1,000
children. The PADDSP research has
found the ASD prevalence rate in
Philadelphia to be 5.3 per 1,000 children.
“It is reassuring that, when there is so much
Originally funded through September
2007, the PA-CADDRE recently received
its second round of five years of funding
from the CDC. The Center will now focus
on continuing the surveillance studies,
under the direction of Dr. Giarelli, and
the Study to Explore Early Development
(SEED) led by Dr. Pinto-Martin. SEED
began enrolling program participants in
April. SEED will study and compare 900
children with autism with 900 typically
developing children and 900 children with
developmental disabilities other than
autism, all between the ages of three-tofive
years old. The study is the largest of
its kind in the country.
that is unknown about autism, there are
researchers who share the urgency of parents
of autistic children and are asking the right
questions to find out what causes ASDs.”
ERIN LOPES, mother of an autistic son
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