Autism Maps -- Alabama
Between 2000 and 2010 Alabama had dramatic growth in both Autism diagnoses and the Autism ratio in the 3 through 21 age group. This is similar to all other US states except Iowa. Also, as in most states, Alabama experienced a decline in Specific Learning Disability (SLD) diagnoses during the same period that ASD's were rising. Even more pronounced in Alabama however, is the precipitous decline in Mental Retardation (MR) diagnoses. Between 2000 and 2010 MR diagnoses in Alabama declined by over two-thirds, from 20,620 to 6,121. Among other diagnoses that sometimes overlap with Autism -- Emotional Disturbance diagnoses experienced a large decline, Speech/Language Disorder diagnoses declined, and Developmental Delay and "Other" Diagnoses both experienced large increases.
From 2000 to 2010 the Alabama population increased from 4,447,100 to 4,779,736. The population from age 3 through 21 increased slightly from 1,208,830 to 1,234,932. The total for All Disabilites from ages 3 through 21 decreased from 99,828 to 82,286. During that time period, Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnoses increased dramatically from 849 to 4,391; Specific Learning Disability Diagnoses (SLD) decreased from 42,107 to 35,987; Mental Retardation diagnoses experienced a huge decline from 20,260 to 6,121; Emotional Disturbance diagnoses also experienced a large decrease, going from 4,860 to 1,425; Speech/Language Disorder diagnoses decreased from 20,962 to 17,445; Developmental Delay diagnoses experienced a large increase from 2,763 to 5,196; and "Other" diagnoses also had a large increase, going from 4,074 to 7,878.
Source: US Dept. of Education IDEA data (www.ideadata.org) Note: IDEA did not have MR data for 2005, 2006 or 2007 for Alabama. For mapping consistency, the 2004 Alabama MR data has been carried over for years 2005 through 2007.
The animated map above shows the change in the number of diagnosed ASD and Mental Retardation (MR) cases from 2000 through 2010. The points reflect the increase/decrease in diagnoses statewide, but are not indicative of where in the state they occurred.
Click on Alabama or any state in the map below to see Autism and other Disability statistics from 2000 thru 2010 for that state.
|
|
Source: US Dept. of Education IDEA data (www.ideadata.org)
The maps on this website have been created through the use of OpenSource Software including Geoserver, Openlayers, PostgreSQL, PostGIS, ApacheTomcat, Linux (ubuntu). Many thanks to all that have contributed to Open Source Software.