It is estimated that worldwide about 1 in 100 children has autism (1). This estimate represents an average figure, and reported prevalence varies substantially across studies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1% of the world's population has autism spectrum disorder – over 75,000,000 people.
Autism Prevalence
In 2023, the CDC reported that approximately 1 in 36 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to 2020 data. Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls.
The country with the highest rate of diagnosed autism in the world is Qatar, and the country with the lowest rate is France. Around 4 times as many boys have autism as girls. The rate of autism in the U.S. went from 1 in 150 in 2000 to 1 in 100 in 2022.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, restricted interests, repetitive behaviors, and/or abnormalities in sensory reaction. The prevalence of ASD reached 2.23 % in the United States [1] and 0.36 % in Asia [2].
Autism has a prevalence rate of around 1% among the Chinese population. Autism was first recognized as a neurological disability in 2006. Since 2006, China has passed a number of laws to ensure the state service and inclusion of autistic individuals.
There's no way to prevent autism spectrum disorder, but there are treatment options. Early diagnosis and intervention is most helpful and can improve behavior, skills and language development. However, intervention is helpful at any age.
It's something you're born with. Signs of autism might be noticed when you're very young, or not until you're older. If you're autistic, you're autistic your whole life. Autism is not a medical condition with treatments or a "cure".
Genes and Autism
Certain genetic variants are linked to a higher chance of a child being somewhere on the spectrum. Also, it takes fewer variants to predispose a boy to developing autism than it does a girl.
ASD occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. It is more than 4 times more common among boys than among girls.
Defining the Traits and Behaviors of Level 1 Autism
Difficulty switching between activities. Problems with executive functioning which hinder independence. Atypical response to others in social situations. Difficulty initiating social interactions and maintaining reciprocity in social interaction.
In a pair of new reports — one focused on 8-year-olds and one on 4-year-olds — the CDC found that 1 out of every 36 children has autism. This is a significant increase from the 2021 estimate of 1 in 44, which was a big jump from 1 in 110 in 2006.
Long-term research that involved following a group of individuals with autism for two decades indicates that the average life expectancy for some autistic people is about 39 years. Furthermore, this population generally succumbed to health complications about 20 years earlier than individuals who do not have autism.
Does The Father Or Mother Carry The Autism Gene? Autism was always thought to have a maternal inheritance component, however, research suggests that the rarer variants associated with the disorder are usually inherited from the father.
ADHD is not on the autism spectrum, but they have some of the same symptoms. And having one of these conditions increases the chances of having the other. Experts have changed the way they think about how autism and ADHD are related.
Advances in diagnostic capabilities and greater understanding and awareness of autism spectrum disorder seem to be largely driving the increase, the Rutgers researchers said. But there's probably more to the story: Genetic factors, and perhaps some environmental ones, too, might also be contributing to the trend.
Advanced parental age at time of conception. Prenatal exposure to air pollution or certain pesticides. Maternal obesity, diabetes, or immune system disorders. Extreme prematurity or very low birth weight.
High levels of stress during pregnancy may also be connected to autism in children. This connection appears to have the most impact when the parent experiences stress between weeks 25 and 28 of pregnancy.
Some autistic children don't show traits of the condition until age 5 or later, new research suggests1. Others show a few mild features at age 3 but only later meet the criteria for diagnosis. The findings suggest that autism traits are not always apparent by 24 months, the typical age for screening.
6,7 In Korea, previous studies reported that the prevalence of ASD was estimated to be 2.64% (1 in 38 children) among school-aged children, that being 7- to 12-year-olds, 18.53 cases per 100,000 persons when looking at all age groups.
The term “autism” was translated as “jiheisho” in Japanese. The term “jiheisho”sounds terrible connotation in Japanese language, as the word may bring connotation of never curable, never speaking, never communicable and so on.