My go-to site for autism resources? The CDC
by Patricia
I’m afraid a lot of people think of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a place that monitors infectious disease, or sometimes maybe gets involved when a plague is looming on the horizon. I have some sense of this from my time working for the Department of Health in Hawaii. When I was asked, “where do you work?” and answered, “the Department of Health,” people would launch into something about their water quality or a restaurant that was in need of a cleanliness citation. As my area of expertise is limited to autism I didn’t have a lot to contribute to these conversations!
The CDC perhaps suffers from this same lack of awareness. The CDC and particularly the National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the CDC is a phenomenal resource for families and professionals. One of my go-to sources for quality materials on early childhood development there is an awareness campaign entitled “Learn the Signs. Act Early”. The list of resources at the Learn the Signs. Act Early page includes information for parents, early care and education professionals and healthcare providers.
The autism prevalence data that has been reported for several years (most recent prevalence 1 in 88) is also a product of the CDC. Easter Seals utilizes this data frequently to advocate and raise awareness about the need for services and supports for this growing prevalence.
CDC also recently developed a resource for physicians-in-training. The site describes Autism Case Training as a developmental-behavioral pediatrics curriculum “designed to educate future healthcare providers on fundamental components of identifying, diagnosing, and managing autism spectrum disorders through real life scenarios.”
There is a lot more to be found related to autism at the CDC. There are so many websites and resources related to autism. The great thing about the CDC is that I know that these materials have been vetted and that the quality is guaranteed.