Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-5r2nc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-11T04:00:42.648Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The prevalence of early childhood autism: comparison of administrative and epidemiological studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Lorna Wing ,
Sybil R. Yeates ,
Lorna M. Brierley  and
Judith Gould
Lorna Wing
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London, the Health Department, London Borough of Southwark, Castle House, London, the Medical Department, Inner London Education Authority, County Hall, London
Sybil R. Yeates
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London, the Health Department, London Borough of Southwark, Castle House, London, the Medical Department, Inner London Education Authority, County Hall, London
Lorna M. Brierley
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London, the Health Department, London Borough of Southwark, Castle House, London, the Medical Department, Inner London Education Authority, County Hall, London
Judith Gould
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London, the Health Department, London Borough of Southwark, Castle House, London, the Medical Department, Inner London Education Authority, County Hall, London
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

The results of surveys and inquiries to identify autistic children, carried out in England and Wales, the U.S.A. and Denmark, are compared. Three studies, in each of which either a total population of children or a wide range of handicapped children was screened, using case-note inspection and interviews, all estimated the prevalence of the autistic syndrome to be between four and five children per 10,000 aged under 15 years. Inquiries that counted diagnosed cases only or that relied upon local authority records produced much lower prevalence rates for the autistic syndrome. The reasons for this are examined, and the implications for prevalence studies of handicapping conditions are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , February 1976 , pp. 89 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Brask, B. H. (1970). A prevalence investigation of childhood psychosis. In The 16th Scandinavian Congress of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child 2, 217–250.Google Scholar
Kanner, L. (1973). Childhood Psychosis: Initial Studies and New Insights. Winston: Washington.Google Scholar
Lotter, V. (1966). Epidemiology of autistic conditions in young children: 1. Prevalence. Social Psychiatry 1, 124–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lotter, V. (1967 a). Epidemiology of autistic conditions in young children: II. Some characteristics of the parents and children. Social Psychiatry 1, 163–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lotter, V. (1967 b). The prevalence of the autistic syndrome in children. Ph.D. thesis, University of London.Google Scholar
Rutter, M., Lebovici, S., Eisenberg, L., Sneznevskij, A. V., Sadoun, R., Brooke, E. & Tsung-Yi, Lin (1969). A tri-axial classification of mental disorders in childhood: an international study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 10, 41–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Treffert, D. A. (1970). Epidemiology of infantile autism. Archives of General Psychiatry 22, 431–438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, L. (1970). Observations on the psychiatric section of the ‘International Classification of Diseases’ and the ‘British Glossary of Mental Disorders’. Psychological Medicine 1, 79–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, L. (1974). Language development and autistic behaviour in severely mentally retarded children. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 67, 1031–1032.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, L. (1975). A study of language impairments in severely retarded children. In O'Connor, N. (ed.), Language, Cognitive Deficits and Retardation. Butterworths: London.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K. & Hailey, A. M. (eds.) (1972). Evaluating a Community Psychiatric Service: The Camberwell Register 1964–1971. Oxford University Press: London.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., O'Connor, N. & Lotter, V. (1967). Autistic conditions in early childhood: a survey in Middlesex. British Medical Journal 3, 389–392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization (1974). Glossary of Mental Disorders and Guide to their Classification. WHO: Geneva.Google Scholar