Autism Spectrum Disorders Autism Spectrum Disorders is the name currently given to the family of disorders leading to and including Autism and the related disorder of Fragile X Syndrome. The only disorder for which there is a medical test is Fragile X Syndrome. All others are diagnosed through a process of psychological testing. Autism Spectrum Disorders occurs between 1 in 100 births and 1 in 250 births depending on the study. Prevalence rates seem to vary from country to country based on criteria each country accepts for a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Autism affects three times as many males as it does females.
There are sixteen signs or characteristics that aid in the diagnosis of autism. These characteristics cover three major groups of development. Anything less than eight will receive one of the other diagnosis's depending on the grouping of characteristics in the three major developmental groups. PDD-NOS is the diagnosis which results when there is a high autistic character presence but the groupings, medical testing, or sex of the child doesn't result in the diagnosis of one of the other disorders. There currently is no known cause of autism.