Future Cumulative Population Incidence Of Autism Could Exceed 2.8%

The cumulative incidence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among adults could exceed 2.8% based on an analysis of diagnosis patterns for people born from 1980 through 2012. Over the 32-year period, for each birth cohort, the share of the population diagnosed with autism by age 4 has been rising, and continued to rise as youth were diagnosed at later ages during adolescence.

Between 1980 and 2012, the cumulative incidence of autism at age four increased from 0.0% in the 1980-81 cohort, to 0.37% in the 2012 cohort. The cumulative incidence of autism at age 10 . . .