What Is the Latest Research on Autism?

The  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that among 8-year-old children, 1 in 36 are autistic. This number has increased from the one in 44 prevalence reported in previous estimates.

Recent CDC Studies

The 2023 Community Report on Autism highlights the ADDM Network’s most recent findings on ASD in 8-year-old and 4-year-old children, based on data collected in 2020. The data analyzed in this report was collected in 11 communities across the United States. These communities also tracked and reported ASD data from 2018 which was included in the previous 2021 Community Report on Autism.

Identifying Autism Early Among 4-year-old Children

• This study is about the number of 4-year-old children who have autism in 11 different areas of the United States.
• This study also looks at what age children with autism are being identified and the impact COVID-19 has had on autism identification.

Key findings

• Children born in 2016 were more likely (56%) to receive an autism diagnosis by age 4 compared with children born in 2012.
• Among 4-year-old children in the 11 ADDM areas in 2020:
  • After COVID-19 started, fewer children were evaluated for or identified with autism.
  • For every one girl identified with autism, three boys were identified with autism.
  • More Black, Hispanic, and Asian or Pacific Islander children were identified with autism than White children. This finding among 4-year-old children was first observed by the ADDM Network in 2018.
  • About three out of every four children identified with autism had been tested by the time they were 3 years old.

The Number of 8-year-old Children with Autism

This study is about the number of 8-year-old children in 11 different areas of the United States who have autism.

Key findings

Among 8-year-old children living in the 11 ADDM areas in 2020:

• One in every 36 children had autism. This was more than what was found in earlier studies (1 in every 44 children had autism in the previous study)
• More Black, Hispanic, and Asian or Pacific Islander children were identified with autism than White children. This is the first time the ADDM Network observed this finding among 8-year-old children.
• For every one girl identified with autism, four boys were identified with autism.
• More Black children with autism also had an intellectual disability than White and Hispanic children with autism.

Source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Autism Among 4-year-old and 8-year-old Children, https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/features/autism-among-4-year-old-8-year-old-children-an-easy-read-summary.html | Public domain. Last Reviewed: March 23, 2023

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