Public health surveillance involves the systematic collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of specific health data that is used by stakeholders for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health conditions, programs and policies.
The Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, also known as ADDM (“Adam”), is a public health surveillance network funded by the CDC to estimate the number of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), cerebral palsy (CP) and other developmental disabilities living in different areas of the United States. The goals of the ADDM Network are to describe the population of children living with these conditions, compare how common they are in different areas of the country, identify changes in occurrence over time, and to understand the impact of these and related conditions in US communities.
Washington University in St. Louis joined the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network in 2003. Missouri (MO) ADDM has completed 10 surveillance years (SY2002 – SY2020). We are currently conducting surveillance for ASD and CP among children aged 4 and 8 years as well as ASD surveillance among 16-year-olds in the St. Louis region. Washington University, along with our extensive network of community partners, is committed to sustaining a strong long-term ASD and DD surveillance system in our region.
Latest ADDM Network Data Release
In the Spring of 2023 the ADDM Network published ASD prevalence reports for the 2020 surveillance year