Kids’ developmental disability diagnoses became more common during pandemic, but autism rates held steady, CDC report says

By Deidre McPhillips, CNN

(CNN) — Children were more likely to be diagnosed with developmental disabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic than they were in the year before, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rates of intellectual disability and autism diagnoses held relatively steady, but the overall change was driven by increases in diagnoses of other developmental delays, a broader category that includes dyslexia and speech disorders.

About 8.6% of children ages 3 to 17 had a diagnosed developmental disability in 2021, up from 7.4% in 2019. About 3% of the 2021 group had been diagnosed with autism, less than 2% had been diagnosed with an intellectual disability, and 6% had been diagnosed with a different developmental delay.

The findings were based on a nationally representative household survey and differ slightly from other CDC reports based on medical records.

“This data reflects a lack of access to or utilization of specialty care,” said Dr. Katharine Zuckerman, a pediatrician and member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Children With Disabilities’ executive committee, who was not involved with the new study.

Diagnoses of autism and intellectual disabilities usually require a visit to a specialist, while other developmental delays are easier for parents, teachers or pediatricians to observe, she said. And visits with pediatric psychologists and other specialists have been hard to get as providers catch up on a long line of patients awaiting care.

The CDC report says that boys were about twice as likely as girls to have been diagnosed with a developmental disability, and the prevalence of intellectual disability increased with age, while the prevalence of other developmental delay decreased among older age groups.

“An intellectual disability diagnosis is almost always preceded by a developmental delay diagnosis,” Zuckerman said. Along with autism, intellectual disability diagnoses tend to carry a long-term implication, she said, while diagnoses of developmental delay may give the impression that the child may catch up.

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