The number of references such as The Autism Encyclopedia and resources on autism are rapidly increasing to assist parents and professionals in their efforts to understand and manage the growing number of children diagnosed with autism. According to an article in United Press International, healthcare professionals report that the number of California students diagnosed with autism has tripled from 14,000 to 46,000 in less than 10 years.

Last fall, The Autism Advisory Committee of the State Education Department issued a report that stated that schools have not agreed on a cost-effective way to deliver services appropriate for autistic children. As a result, school districts are tapping into regular education budgets to pay for special education in an attempt to meet the requirement that all disabled children get services.

Bryna Siegel, director of the Autism Clinic at the University of California-San Francisco, says that “"If you show me 100 kids with autism, 60 percent would not have been diagnosed that way 10 years ago." Because of better diagnosis, many students who are currently diagnosed with autism would have, until recently, been called mentally retarded or learning disabled.

The state legislature's Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism calls the soaring numbers of autistic diagnoses a "public health crisis."