Skip To Main Content

Additional information for Educators

Additional Information for Educators

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Recent Autism Diagnosis Statistics:

  • About 1 in 36 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to estimates from CDC's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network.
  • ASD is reported to occur in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.
  • ASD is about 4 times more common among boys (1 in 42) than among girls (1 in 189). 
  • About 1 in 6 (17%) children aged 3–17 years were diagnosed with a developmental disability, as reported by parents, during a study period of 2009-2017. These included autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, blindness, and cerebral palsy, among others.

Risk Factors and Characteristics:

  • Parents who have a child with ASD have a 2%–18% chance of having a second child who is also affected.
  • ASD tends to occur more often in people who have certain genetic or chromosomal conditions. About 10% of children with autism are also identified as having Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, or other genetic and chromosomal disorders.
  • Almost half (about 44%) of children identified with ASD has average to above average intellectual ability.
  • Children born to older parents are at a higher risk for having ASD. 
  • A small percentage of children who are born prematurely or with low birth weight are at greater risk for having ASD.
  • ASD commonly co-occurs with other developmental, psychiatric, neurologic, chromosomal, and genetic diagnoses. The co-occurrence of one or more non-ASD developmental diagnoses is 83%. The co-occurrence of one or more psychiatric diagnoses is 10%. 

Diagnosis:

  • Research has shown that a diagnosis of autism at age 2 can be reliable, valid, and stable.
  • Even though ASD can be diagnosed as early as age 2 years, most children are not diagnosed with ASD until after age 4 years.
  • Studies have shown that parents of children with ASD notice a developmental problem before their child's first birthday. Concerns about vision and hearing were more often reported in the first year, and differences in social, communication, and fine motor skills were evident from 6 months of age.

 This information was taken directly from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Website. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html