A wider variety of symptoms are included in the diagnostic definition of autism spectrum disorder today than when autism was first introduced as a mental health condition in 1980. Vladimir Vladimirov/E+/Getty Images

I can say from personal experience that being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder can feel very isolating. Increasingly, however, it’s not unusual.

In the U.S., 1 in 31 children are diagnosed with autism each year by age 8, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number, released in April 2025, is up from 1 in 36 in 2023.

These statistics have been widely characterized as concerning . But I would like to offer a different perspective.

I am a researcher studying how young people with autism transition to adulthood .

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