In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the uncertainty surrounding estimates of autism prevalence.
Overall, the rate of autism in people 18 or older more than doubled between 2011 and 2019, from 4.2 per 1,000 to 9.5 per 1,000, according to an analysis of Medicaid data published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry in 2023.
Researchers saw the most rapid growth in adults between the ages of 26 and 34, according to a study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open in 2024, that analyzed U.S. health records and insurance claims for more than nine million individuals a year from 2011 to 2022. That group’s rate of autism increased from 0.7 per 1,000 people in 2011 to 3.7 per 1,000 in 2022.
Some of this growth comes from autistic children aging into adulthood.
For adults seeking evaluations for the first time, scientists attribute the rise to a variety of factors.
Social media has increased awareness of autism. Autism has shed the stigma it used to hold. The definition of the condition has expanded over time to include a broader range of behaviors. And some parents who have children diagnosed with autism then recognize their own challenges and seek out evaluations, said Michelle Gorenstein-Holtzman, a clinical psychologist who works with adults at the NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain.
Three years ago, before she joined, the center did one adult autism evaluation a month. Now Gorenstein-Holtzman does two a week.
