Autism rate for countries

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Hi,

Is there a list on the internet of autism rate per country, like out of 1000 or something? I read Japan is the highest but I'd like to see a real list. I couldn't really find anything off Google

Thanks,
Mike

From the studies I have seen it does appear that Japan has more than their fair share but in reality it is only because they keep more accurate records that they are willing to make public.

It's all about the record-keeping. Different countries keep records in different ways; others don't keep records at all. In some places, autism is only "classic autism". In some places, most autism goes undiagnosed due to low access to medical care. In others, it is diagnosed as "reactive attachment disorder" instead most of the time. Different diagnostic criteria are used in different places. In some areas, adult diagnosis is impossible or unheard of.

Getting accurate rates for autism worldwide is extremely difficult.

I've heard that it's more prevalent in american jews, but I dont know if thats really true....

I think that urban legend came about only because so many american psychiatrists are jewish.

Like African people and sickle-cell? Maybe. I don't think there's any strong tendency in any genetic group; autism is a collection of traits, and I don't think that we'll find huge differences from one race to another. It seems to be all over the world, in every country.

A small, isolated group, though, or a family; that I could see. We already have the huge Silicon Valley spike in autism, anyway, and we know it's genetic.

I was born into a Jewish family. My uncle is under the spectrum and I suspect my father has AS. My son also is under the spectrum. However, I don't think autism has much to do with race, religion or ethnicity.

I'm not Jewish myself, (I'm a Swedish/Czech/Scottish/Irish mix) but my uncle is an Austrian Jew and while I don't think he is an Aspie, he is introverted, has a low, monotone voice, tends to go on sophisticated rants and is also a brilliant genius who helped stop the Soviets.

I am certain I inherited my traits from my maternal grandmother's family, who were Swedish as far back as they could trace. She was the first person to think I was autistic, in fact, she worked at a special needs school and knew a lot about the autism spectrum. Everyone in my family tells me how much I remind them of her brother, my great uncle...when my mom would go to his house in San Diego, it was an absolute mess of notebooks that he insisted on keeping. He was extremely obsessive and could name every statistic of every player on the Padres, but he had a silliness and everyone thought he was a genius engineer who was a bit goofy. My grandma's dad, my great grandfather was also probably autistic (he was another engineer) Pretty much everyone on that side of the family was an engineer in the Air Force.

maybe that's why so many of my friends have been Jewish (heck, even a girlfriend....once...

From eMedicine:

Europeans do seem more introverted and cerebral which means there is probably a higher percentage of people on the spectrum.

There also seems to be an inordinate number of Australians on this board.

I happen to be half Jewish also.