Autism Prevalence Increases in Arizona

Arizona's Autism Prevalence

• More children with average intelligence are being identified with autism since ADDSP began tracking in 2000.
• The percentage of boys identified with autism is higher than the percentage of girls.
• More children are being diagnosed with autism by age 4 years than in previous reports.

1 in 36, or 2.7% of 8-year-old children were identified with autism in WISADDS in 2020.

1 in 64, or 1.6% of 4-year-old children were identified with autism by ADDSP in 2020.

Children age 4 years (1.1%) were 1.5 times as likely to receive an autism diagnosis or autism special education classification by 48 months of age compared to children who were age 8 years (0.72%).

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many aspects of life, including the ability to evaluate children for autism.

4-year-old children were less likely to have an evaluation than 8-year-old children when they were they were the same age at the beginning of the pandemic.