The number of children suffering from autism and related disorders may be twice as high as previously thought, according to research reported in The Times newspaper (14 July 2006). The new study suggests these conditions are likely to affect one per cent of British children.

Gillian Baird, of Guy’s and St Thomas’, and her colleagues calculated the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in children in South London aged 9 and 10. They found as many as 39 in 10,000 children to be suffering from autism and 77 per 10,000 had ASD, making the total prevalence of all types of ASD 116 per 10,000. They then calculated the prevalence based on children previously identified as having ASD, which they found to be only 44 per 10,000.

Before the 1990s, researchers estimated that there were 4-5 cases of autism per 10,000 people.