When people hear the word autism, it’s often associated with a specific set of traits. But in reality, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is just that—a spectrum, encompassing a broad range of differences ...

Last year, Health Secretary Kennedy thrust autism into the national spotlight, calling it an epidemic and vowing to ...

Since 2013, when the DSM-5 collapsed five autism subtypes into the single diagnosis of "autism spectrum disorder (ASD)," we've treated autism like a monolith. Maybe that made sense when our tools were ...

There has been a growing demand in recent years to separate “profound autism” into its own diagnosis, outside current parameters. Since 2013, autism diagnoses have been split into three levels, ...

The phrases “autism spectrum” or “on the spectrum” have become part of everyday language. They are often used as different ways of referring to someone who is “neurodivergent”. The term was coined in ...

Readers weigh in on the challenges of defining and diagnosing the condition. To the Editor: Re “In New Focus on Autism, Some Worry the Spectrum Is Too Broad” (front page, Oct. 5): One thing’s for ...

For decades, the question of what causes autism has captured public attention, fueled debates, and spurred waves of research. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy has been a prominent ...