Ellie Wilson

This co-occurring disability is part of that diversity.

Sorry, I thought that question was for Barry.

Oh, no, no, no.

OK, gotcha.

So I'm sorry about that.

So.

Part of what you, I think, are identifying, it has to do with things most akin to things like anxiety and depression.

I mean, like, you know, there are certainly some of us that might be more prone to anxiety or might experience stronger levels of anxiety throughout our lives, surely.

But in the same way, we can conceptualize that, you know, teenagers, young adults and older adults might have

anxiety and depression issues that they didn't necessarily have when they were children.

That's where we can see those things start to layer in.

Though it's certainly not a disorder, it's also worth mentioning puberty, like the presence of puberty, the experience of puberty is also something that tends to create some really important shifts for autistic people and for everyone, of course, but

The idea is there aren't just circumstantial, but there are also mental health or developmental health things that sort of happen to someone in their trajectory that can either complicate their autism or affect it in some way.

Okay, good question.

So the most recent numbers, which this is technically the CDC that keeps track of prevalence of autism across the United States.

And the CDC is actually comprised of usually somewhere between 10 and 15 university centers from around the country who actually do the work.

It just so happens one of those centers is in Minnesota.

So we're lucky enough to have some state data and some national data.

But as of the most recent study, what they've reported is that one in 31 children who are about eight years old for the purpose of the study across the United States could qualify for an autism diagnosis.

Minnesota's numbers were pretty close to that.