NHS records show that 103, 215 patients in March 2022 had a referral for an ASD assessment: an increase of just over 74,000 on the previous year. Of these 103, 215 patients, 84,625 had been waiting for an assessment for at least 13 weeks.
ASD affects all ethnic and socio-economic groups, but minority groups will wait comparatively longer for an assessment.
A survey by the University of London of over 1,000 parents whose children had undergone an ASD assessment found that children had to wait three and a half years on average before receiving their diagnosis.
Referrals for ASD assessments tripled between Spring 2019 and Spring 2022, while waiting times for assessments quadrupled.
Research has found that ASD can sometimes be detected in children of 18 months, and detected reliably by an experienced professional at 2 years of age.
Between one and two thirds of ASD children will also experience ADHD, (Attention Deficit, and Hyperactivity Disorder)
The proportion of males to females diagnosed with ASD varies, but the ratio is always skewed towards males, and between 3:1 to 5:1.
Nearly 80% of women with ASD are misdiagnosed as having anxiety, and / or mood, learning or eating disorders before being assessed for ASD.
ASD is one of the most common childhood neurodevelopmental disorders, with an estimated prevalence of 1.76 % in the school aged population. The estimated prevalence in adults is about 1.1%, This would suggest that ASD is underdiagnosed in adults.
Estimates of adult ASD from University College London, suggest that between 150,000 and 500,000 people aged 20 to 49 years-old may be undiagnosed; and between 250,000 and 600,000 people with autism over the age of 50 may be undiagnosed
Pat Guy Education Specialist & Author 