New criteria may reduce autism diagnoses

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The number of U.S. kids diagnosed with autism has been on the rise, but that trend could turn around with new diagnostic criteria coming into effect, researchers say. By applying the new symptom checklist to 6,577 children who already met the old definitions for autism and related disorders, the study team found about 19 percent of the kids would not get an autism diagnosis today. “Parents have no reason to be concerned about the findings of this study which is not about re-diagnosing people or taking away their diagnoses,” Dr. Brian King told Reuters Health in an email. King is director at the Seattle Children’s Autism Center and director of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital.