A brand-new report shows that 1 in 50 children in the U.S. have now been diagnosed with autism, up from 1 in 86 kids in 2008.
- Boys are diagnosed with autism four times more than girls.
- The majority of diagnoses since 2008 have been for less severe forms of autism.
- 2 percent of children ages 6-17 years have autism, according to their parents. This is a huge jump from 2007, when the rate was 1.2 percent.
- The greatest jump in autism rates was for boys and adolescents 14 to 17 years.
- Children who were first diagnosed in or after 2008 were more likely to have milder Autism Spectrum Disorder than those diagnosed in or before 2007.
- Much of the increase was the result of diagnoses of children with previously unrecognized ASD.