What is the real number for autism cases?

I saw that it was 1 in every 166 births. Is that right? Does anyone knows way there is a huge increase for the past years?What is the real number for autism cases?
Actually, the statistic is 2 to 6 out of 1,000, or somewhere between ';1 in every 500'; to ';1 in every 166.';





And that includes high functioning conditions such as Asperger's, which composes as much as 80% of those on the Autism Spectrum.





Asperger's is a condition which likely has been around for years, just undiagnosed. They may have just been labeled ';geeks'; %26amp; ';oddballs.'; They are also frequently very functional. Some suspect Bill Gates has Asperger's. And some suspect Einstein was, too!





This accounts for a big hunk of the increase. Adding Asperger's to the spectrum could have increased the diagnosis rate 4 times over! Then you take into account that many autistic kids were likely to be just diagnosed ';retarded'; or ';brain-damaged.'; Remember, up until the 80's, the common theory was that autism was caused my neglectful, unloving mothers. So you didn't have parents taking their kids to the doctors saying ';I think my son has autism.'; And if a family doctor knew the mother was loving %26amp; attentive, he would be very likely to rule out the possiblity the child could be autistic. So the rates we see from previous generations are inaccurrately low.





In other words, I suspect the rate of DIAGNOSIS, as opposed to the actual incidence rate is what has increased.What is the real number for autism cases?
1 in 166, and 1 in 104 for boys. Every 1 out of 200 people in the US is on the spectrum
According to the ASA (Autism Society of America) that number is correct. 1 in every 166 births.





The recent celebrity push for more research may yield answers to your second question. However scientist do not yet have a cause/effect relationship that is definitive and would explain the increases.