【沪江标准VOA】2月26日：自闭症
Autism More Common Than Thought
The new survey of children with autism is the largest and most comprehensive ever undertaken. It shows that about 560,000 children in the Untied States have the condition. Wendy Stone's child is one of them. "I'm hoping that one in 150 is alarming enough to the government and to our health care providers, for them to pay a lot of attention to it."
Autism is a little-understood neurological and behavior syndrome that interferes with a child's ability to relate or interact with others. The new survey by the Centers for Disease, Control and Prevention is not a nationwide study but based on data from only 14 states. Still, many in the medical community and among support groups, found the numbers staggering.
Lee Grossman with the Autism Society of America. "It actually validates what we've been saying all along that the numbers of people being diagnosed with autism is much higher than what had been previously stated."
More money on research is needed because very little is known about possible risk factors for autism, what causes it, or even how to recognize it biologically.
