O'Nions, Petersen, Buckman, Charlton, Cooper, Corbett, Happe, Manthorpe, Richards, Saunders, Zanker, Mandy and Stott (2023)

As more adults are being diagnosed as Autistic, this article estimates the number of diagnosed and undiagnosed Autistic people in England. The research uses a population-based cohort study, collected from primary care data, with a sample size of over 6 million. The findings for the study showed that diagnostic rates for children and young people were much higher than for adults, with 1 in 34, 10–14-year-olds having a diagnosis and only 1 in 6000 adults aged 70+. Projections based on this data suggest that 0.83% of the English population may have been diagnosed as Autistic and 0.77% to 2.12% of the English population may be undiagnosed. The authors stress the need for improvements in access to adult Autism diagnostic services.

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