894 - Is There an Autism Epidemic?

Public Health On Call

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Novelcoronavirus, Health, Publichealth, Covid, Globalhealth, Coronavirus, News, Health & Fitness, Education, Medicine, Covid19, Science

4.8 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

About this episode:

Diagnoses of autism are on the rise, but is this the result of more children being affected by the condition, or is more of a consequence of broader criteria and more screening? In this episode: a look at a new study about the number of children diagnosed with autism and what this research shows—and doesn’t show.

Guest:

Dr. Christine Ladd-Acosta is an autism researcher and vice-director of the Wendy Klag Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. She is the lead Maryland investigator on a national study about the rate of autism.

Host:

Dr. Josh Sharfstein is vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in health policy, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland’s Health Department.

Show links and related content:

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—CDC’s MMWR
RFK Jr.’s autism study to amass medical records of many Americans—CBS News
The NIH-Funded Autism Study Hoping to Pinpoint Gene-Environmental Interplay—Public Health On Call (March 2025)
Vaccines Don’t Cause Autism. Why Do Some People Think They Do?—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health
Discovering How Environment Affects Autism—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine (2023)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Public Health On Call, a podcast from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,
0:05.9	where we bring evidence, experience, and perspective to make sense of today's leading health challenges.
0:16.3	If you have questions or ideas for us, please send an email to public health question at jhhhu.edu.
0:23.8	That's public health question at jhhu.edu for future podcast episodes.
0:30.6	It's Lindsay Smith Rogers. Is autism an epidemic?
0:35.0	Today, we're focusing on studies that count the number of children with autism.
0:39.7	Dr. Christine Lattacosta is a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
0:44.7	and the lead Maryland investigator on a national study about the rate of autism.
0:49.9	The same study recently cited by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
0:55.0	She talks with Dr. Josh Scharstein about what this research shows and doesn't show.
1:00.7	Let's listen.
1:02.0	Dr. Christine Ladd Acosta, thank you so much for joining me today on Public Health On Call.
1:06.8	How are you doing?
1:07.8	Good. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to talk to you.
1:10.8	Well, I am excited to talk to you because autism is in the news, including questions about how common autism is and whether the rates are increasing. And I thought, well, I know someone who studies some of these very questions. Why not have her on the podcast?
1:27.0	Happy to be here.
1:28.6	So let's start with a general question.
1:31.1	Could you introduce yourself to our audience?
1:34.4	Sure.
1:34.8	I am Dr. Christine Lattacosta.
1:37.1	I'm an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology here at the school,
1:41.7	and also wear the hat of vice director of our Wendy
	...

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