How is autism diagnosed?
Autism is considered a behaviorally defined syndrome for which there are no medical tests. It is typically diagnosed through a combination of activities that includes; collecting historical developmental information from the parents, the use of observational checklists and rating scales, and standardized testing that is intended to describe current performance relative to expected performance. Assessment of social functioning and language development are considered in the diagnosis, and it is not uncommon for an autism evaluation to include a formal measure of intelligence (which is often an underestimate of actual ability). Because autism is considered a “spectrum disorder” that describes a broad range of individuals, understanding “how much” autism someone has is a subjective determination and something that should always be cautiously interpreted.
