autism spectrum disorder

[aw-tiz-uhm spek-truhm dis-awr-der]

noun

Psychiatry.

1. a developmental disability of highly variable presentation characterized by social and communication differences, repetitive behaviors, or a restricted range of interests, and which commonly manifests in early childhood.

Word History and Origins

Origin of autism spectrum disorder¹

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the number of children identified with autism spectrum disorder in 2000 was about one in 150.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This expanded criteria makes discussions about curing or preventing autism incredibly fraught, because the label autism spectrum disorder is now such a big tent.

Read more on Slate

Kennedy is correct that autism spectrum disorder rates have risen steadily in the U.S. since the U.S.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Then in 2013, the fifth edition of the DSM took what had previously been four separate conditions — autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder — and collapsed them all into a single diagnosis: autism spectrum disorder.

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But, in 2013, the diagnostic criteria of ASD – or Autism Spectrum Disorder – was broadened to include people with Asperger's Syndrome in the US.

Read more on BBC