Autism rate in Canada Skyrockets – Equal to U.S. rate

Autism Canada Foundation asks the Federal Government to increase research funds to find a cause and cure.

Autism Canada Foundation today released data that show Canada has an autism rate that equals that of the United States. A child born in Canada today has a 1 in 195 chance of being diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Autism is by far the most rapidly advancing childhood disorder in North America.

Autism is a serious debilitating disease that affects an individual’s
ability to communicate and interact socially with others. Many children
with ASD will never learn to speak.

Most professionals agree that early, intensive intervention using a
combination of treatments that include biomedical, behavioural, speech,
occupational therapy and nutritional therapy will give a child the best
outcome with many children significantly recovering from their symptoms.

“To date research in Canada has been minimal and has focused on genetics
and behaviour modification”, says Cynthia Zahoruk, a director of Autism
Canada, “Parents in Canada and the U.S have been self-funding biomedical
research in order to find a cause and a cure and it is about time that the Government started doing their part in light of these epidemic
numbers”.

Canadian parents are literally going into bankruptcy while providing their autistic children with suitable treatments and they get little help from the government. “We are helping our kids lose their diagnosis, or at least to get so substantially better, that these kids will not be institutionalized like they have in the past”. Sadly many parents cannot afford the most basic treatment.

There is a general consensus among scientists and physicians specializing in autism that the disorder develops in individuals predisposed genetically after exposure to an environmental trigger.

For more information call Autism Canada at 905-331-4480
Or email info@autismcanada.org