More autistic children calls for more educated teachers, state researchers say - News - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports -

More autistic children calls for more educated teachers, state researchers say  - News - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports -:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Now that more children than ever before are being diagnosed with autism, state researchers said it's time to focus on educating teachers in the classroom.

One out of every 88 U.S. children is diagnosed with autism by age 8, a 23 percent jump since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's last report came out in 2009. The previous estimate was one in 110.

School officials know that a growing number of children in their schools are diagnosed with autism, and now "we need to focus on teacher education," said Barbara Becker-Cottrill, executive director of the West Virginia Autism Training Center at Marshall University.