The rate of autism has skyrocketed ten-fold in the last two decades. Researchers now estimate that one in every 166 children has some sort of Autism Spectrum Disorder. A study in this month's issue of Pediatrics documents the rise in autism. It finds a particular jump in kids born between 1987 and 1992. UAB professor Russell Kirby studies autistic kids in Alabama. In the latest installment in our year-long mental health project, WBHM's Tanya Ott asked Kirby whether the jump in autism rates is because there are more autistic kids - or because doctors are getting better at recognizing the symptoms.

Click on the following link to hear the entire interview:

http://www.wbhm.org/News/2005/autism.html

Copyright 2005, Used with permission from WBHM.