The Autism and Developmental Disabilities Network (ADDM) is a CDC-funded project that aims to monitor the number of cases of autism and other developmental disabilities in different regions of this country to provide accurate, population-based estimates of the prevalence of these disabilities in young children.

CDC currently estimates the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders in the United States to be approximately 2-7 cases per 1,000 children.  However, there have not been any definitive studies to date providing an accurate estimate of the true prevalence in the overall population.

Monitoring Autism Prevalence in Maryland

As part of the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network (ADDM), CADDE monitors cases of ASDs in northern Maryland in order to make an accurate estimate of the prevalence of ASDs in this region.  The regions covered in Maryland include Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Cecil, Harford, and Howard Counties and Baltimore City.

Monitoring Strategy
CADDE’s surveillance system is a multiple source, records-based population surveillance system, currently focused on ASDs with plans to expand to other developmental disabilities in the future.  CADDE collaborates with the Maryland State Department of Education and local hospitals to obtain data about potential ASD cases.

Dissemination of Results
CADDE will provide the results of this monitoring program on a yearly basis.  These results will include the prevalence estimates for the region of study and estimates for each county, in addition to estimates for demographic subgroups that can be easily ascertained from U.S. Census data (i.e., gender, race, etc.)