“County-level ASD prevalence was estimated using an age-resolved snapshot from the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) for birth years 1993-2013.
“ASD prevalence increased among all children across birth years 1993-2000 but plateaued or declined thereafter among whites from wealthy counties.”
“In contrast, ASD rates increased continuously across 1993-2013 among whites from lower income counties and Hispanics from all counties.
“These disparate trends within the dataset suggest that wealthy white parents, starting around 2000, may have begun opting out of DDS in favor of private care and/or making changes that effectively lowered their children’s risk of ASD.”
The data collected in Sonoma/Marin and counties with the lowest vaccination rates in the state are the sole exception to the skyrocketing autism rate in California.
