Federal health officials say New Jersey continues to have the highest rate of autism in the nation. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says one in 41 children is diagnosed with the disorder in New Jersey, representing a 12 percent increase over the past two years.

Despite the growing numbers, Dr. Walter Zahorodny, an autism expert at Rutgers University, says New Jersey has always taken a progressive approach to the issue.

"Families in our region are relatively speaking, already probably better prepared for getting a diagnosis of autism than families in other parts of the country." 

But a bigger takeaway from the CDC report, Zahorodny says, is that minority children are being diagnosed much later in life than white children.

"We need to have some concerted public health information and hopefully autism screening campaign, which would be able to pick up kids at risk for autism between 2 and 3 years of age. That would help us a lot," Zahorodny said. 

Zahorodny spoke with WNYC's Richard Hake.