According to a new editorial by Dame Uta Frith, Professor at University College London (UCL), the definition of autism has expanded to such an extent that it is causing confusion and inaccurate diagnoses. Frith, whose pioneering research in the 1960s and 1970s laid the foundation for the modern understanding of autism, believes that the term “Autism Spectrum Disorder” (ASD) has become too broad to be practically useful today. The diagnosis now encompasses a vast group of individuals, ranging from those who require 24-hour care to people who live entirely independent lives.
In a paper published in the journal Psychological Medicine, the author notes that in the 1940s, when autism was first identified, it referred only to a small group of children who experienced severe difficulties in social interaction, communication, and behavior. Over time, the definition broadened to include individuals with milder characteristics and without language or learning difficulties.
As a result, the number of diagnosed individuals has increased dramatically. While in the 1960s in the UK, autism was diagnosed in only 4 out of 10,000 children, today that figure stands at 1 in 57 pupils. The scientist links a growth of this scale to several factors, including heightened awareness, expanded diagnostic criteria, self-diagnosis influenced by social media, and a cultural tendency to explain everyday struggles in medical terms.
Over her 50-year career, Professor Frith studied the cognitive foundations of autism and formulated two fundamental theories regarding the deficit in theory of mind and weak central coherence. In her new paper, she highlights the vast difference between patients diagnosed at an early age and those diagnosed later in life.
Those diagnosed in childhood often have language or learning difficulties, whereas individuals diagnosed during adolescence or adulthood generally possess average or high intelligence and frequently exhibit co-occurring conditions, such as anxiety, depression, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Some studies suggest that there may also be a different genetic profile between these groups, raising the question of whether we might be dealing with entirely different conditions.
