Study: Milder Autism Far Outpacing ‘Profound’ Diagnoses

NEW YORK (AP) — A new, first-of-its-kind study shows the rate of profound autism is rising in the U.S., though those cases are a smaller share of all autism diagnoses.

Autism diagnoses in U.S. kids have become increasingly common, but health officials have noted the growing ranks of autistic kids has gradually included children with milder symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention led the research.

The authors find that the rate of profound diagnoses grew to about 5 cases per 1,000 kids in 2016.

But the rate of kids diagnosed with milder forms of autism grew much faster — to 14 per 1,000.

The journal Public Health Reports on Wednesday published the study online.