Autism Diagnosis Is Expanding — At a Cost - Takeaways - MDSpire

Autism Diagnosis Is Expanding — At a Cost

Autism may be overdiagnosed — and, Liao and Fombonne argue, that children with the greatest needs may be paying the price.

  • By

  • Kerri Miller

  • April 23, 2026

  • 2 min

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  • 1

    The rise in autism prevalence includes overdiagnosis due to diagnostic substitution and stretched boundaries by clinicians.

  • 2

    Nearly half of children diagnosed with autism in the community do not meet criteria upon reevaluation by research teams.

  • 3

    The prevalence of concurrent intellectual disability in autism has decreased from 70% to 30% over four decades.

  • 4

    Widening autism diagnostic boundaries may divert resources from children with significant challenges to those with milder presentations.

  • 5

    The diagnostic process needs to better distinguish autism from co-occurring conditions and nonspecific behavioral features.

Original Source(s)

Autism Diagnosis Is Expanding — At a Cost

  • by Kerri Miller

  • April 23, 2026

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