If you have any concerns about your child's development or behavior – at any age – talk with their doctor. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), a federal law signed in 2010, states that all children are entitled to free screening for ASD at 18 and 24 months. Parents can also request an assessment if they're concerned about their child. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) strongly recommends that all children be screened for autism at their 18-month and 24-month doctor visits. It may not be covered by insurance.Ĭhildren can sometimes be diagnosed with ASD younger than 18 months, and they can be reliably diagnosed between 18 months and age 2. The test is available via prescription and is administered by a healthcare provider. ![]() A saliva test is available for children 18 months through 6 years and may be helpful – in combination with behavioral observations – in making a diagnosis. There are some markers found in saliva that can help identify a child's likelihood of ASD. Doctors also ask parents to describe unusual behaviors they observe in their child, such as not smiling or babbling, not making eye contact, or not responding to their name. A child's developmental history, plus clinical observation of their behavior, are used to make a diagnosis. In addition, until recently, research has focused largely on boys and men. (While the autism diagnostic rate in California is 1 in 26 children, the rate in Missouri is 1 in 60.) So does a lack of awareness of autism and developmental delays in some communities. Less access to healthcare in general – and services for diagnosing and treating autism specifically – influences the number of children diagnosed. Systemic barriers to healthcare and racial and gender bias contribute to differences in rates. For example, fewer Hispanic children are identified as autistic than Black or white children, and a higher percentage of Black children with autism are identified with intellectual disability (rather than ASD) compared to white or Hispanic children with autism. There are racial, ethnic, and community differences in autism diagnosis, too. Researchers are studying other possibilities, too, such as whether in vitro fertilization (IVF) is a risk factor and which environmental toxins – in combination with genetic factors – may play a role in the increased prevalence. People are having babies at later ages, which is associated with a higher risk for autism. Also, more kids are getting screened for autism, and more parents are aware of the symptoms.īut other factors are at play. ![]() Why are more children being diagnosed with ASD? In part this is because the expanding definition of ASD now includes children with milder symptoms who might not have been counted as having autism in the past.
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