Autism Prevalence in U.S. Kids Jumps 16.1% in Just Two Years

1 in 31. And rising fast. Something is deeply wrong here.

This article originally appeared on Focal Points and was republished with permission.

Guest post by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

New CDC data reveals 1 in 31 (3.22%) of American 8-year-olds were autistic in 2022 — a staggering 384% increase since 2000.'

The CDC surveillance study titled “Prevalence and Early Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 4 and 8 Years — Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 16 Sites, United States, 2022” was just published on the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). They found the following concerning statistic:

Results: Among children aged 8 years in 2022, ASD prevalence was 32.2 per 1,000 children (one in 31) across the 16 sites, ranging from 9.7 in Texas (Laredo) to 53.1 in California.

The previous CDC surveillance report released in 2023 found an autism prevalence of 1 in 36 among 8-year-old American children in 2020. This means autism prevalence has increased by 16.1% in just two years—continuing a concerning upward trend:

These data reaffirm the importance of addressing the autism epidemic as soon as possible before an overwhelming majority of Americans are diagnosed with autism.

While we await the results of the intensive research efforts by HHS to determine the causes of this epidemic, abundant evidence suggests that childhood hyper-vaccination, aluminum vaccine adjuvants, and pesticide exposure serve as risk factors for autism:

Addressing these factors will likely yield a measurable reduction in autism rates:

Nicolas Hulscher, MPH

Epidemiologist and Foundation Administrator, McCullough Foundation

www.mcculloughfnd.org

Please consider following both the McCullough Foundation and my personal account on X (formerly Twitter) for further content.

Copyright 2025 Focal Points

---