Autism is More Prevalent (and more Relevant) Than you Think

When I began working with children as a therapist, I knew I would encounter a variety of neurodivergent clients, particularly those with Autism. What I didn’t know was how many Autistic clients I would encounter. But since opening a private practice in 2018, the sheer volume of Autistic children and teens presenting for services has been shocking. And this number has continued to steadily increase until today, when the large majority of clients we serve are Neurodivergent, primarily those with Autism, ADHD or both.  

Why?

Because Autism is far more prevalent, and relevant, than you think. The first estimate in 1966 was 1 in every 2,222 children. In 1979, 1 in 150; In 2000, 1 in 59 and in 2018, 1 in 44.* Today it is estimated that about 1 in 31 8-year-olds are diagnosed with Autism. That means that there is approximately 1 Autistic student in every traditional classroom in America. Research suggests that this number is a low estimate because countless children and adults are undiagnosed. As a Child Therapist, I absolutely agree that this estimate is low. I see it every day.

Additionally, the above numbers do not take adults cases into account. One study noted that only 3 – 10% of autistic adults have received a formal diagnosis, and individuals born prior to the mid-1990s are much less likely to have received a diagnosis.

What does this mean?

This means that having undiagnosed Autism is not a rare phenomenon. Nearly one fifth of all people who present in a mental health setting may have Autism, which may contribute to their presenting concerns. These are individuals who are misunderstood, misdiagnosed and marginalized, which leaves them vulnerable to co-occurring challenges.

Why are so many people going undiagnosed?

Even in 2026, clinicians and the medical field are relying on outdated stereotypes. Physicians, nurses, teachers, social workers, therapists—they are all clinging to antiquated conceptions about Autism, and we have to do better. We now have access to more research, more scientific understanding and more reports from Autistic people about their life experiences. If you work with or are around children, it is your responsibility to learn from this research so we can look beyond the conclusions we come to just from looking at a person. We need to move beyond the limited and erroneous assumptions such as someone who has friends and makes eye contact can’t be autistic - and that’s just one example.

The consequences of misdiagnosis or undiagnosed Autism are clear. For example, when I would sit down with parents for an initial intake before meeting a child client, many of the same struggles were mentioned—difficulty with transitions, high sensitivity, black and white thinking, anxiety, meltdowns over seemingly small issues, difficulty paying attention in school, wanting others to follow rules but not themselves, difficulty taking another person’s perspective.

But as the years passed, it was obvious that these symptoms were just the tip of the iceberg and that Autistic clients were so much more than these symptoms. Their experience of the world was so fundamentally different that not only was it difficult for them to participate in school and/or social activities—it was hard for others to understand them, and hard for them to understand others. Living in a world that was not designed for them was taking a toll and they were suffering. And so were their families.

Donna Henderson and Sarah Wayland write in their book, Is This Autism?, “unidentified Autistic individuals can spend their lifetime with a persistent sense of not fitting in … they are frequently burdened with guilt and shame for “not living up to their potential.” And all too frequently, they are given diagnoses that don’t seem to fit and interventions that don’t seem to help.”

What can be done?

First, we can look around and find joy in the differences around us. We can accept that some people (more than you think!) have differences in communication, social interaction, behavior and learning. Instead of viewing Neurodivergent brains as disordered, we can instead see them as they are—part of a natural range of differences in individual brain function and traits, which is part of normal variation in the human population. And we can begin to loosen our tightly-held grasp on traditional approaches to learning and education, social roles, rules of employment, etc.

There are so many Autistic adults sharing their life experiences. It is time to listen to those voices. Some grew up knowing they were autistic but many did not. We can listen to their stories, their experiences and we can reflect on our own experiences and that of our children. We can try to understand others with compassion and accept their differences as part of the joy of the human experience.  

We can open our minds and our hearts and when we see someone struggling, consider that their brain may operate differently than ours, and know that different is ok.

Why does this matter?

This matters because the world we live in consists of many types of people, many of them Neurodivergent—Autistic people, those with ADHD, Dyslexia, Tourette’s, OCD, etc. These are the people in our community, in the grocery store, at the mechanic, our child’s teachers and coaches. They are part of our families. We can no longer treat them as if they have a disorder that needs to be fixed, or cured. What we need to fix is OUR mindset, OUR limited view of others with difference, because we’re not so different after all.   

*Excerpted from Is This Autism?: A Guide for Clinicians and Everyone Else: Henderson, D., White, J, & Wayland, S., Routledge, 2023.