{"id":2892,"date":"2026-01-23T18:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T18:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/23\/taking-a-fresh-look-at-definition-of-autism\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T18:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T18:51:14","slug":"taking-a-fresh-look-at-definition-of-autism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/23\/taking-a-fresh-look-at-definition-of-autism\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking a fresh look at definition of autism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\tHealth\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\tTaking a fresh look at definition of autism\t<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\tSy Boles\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/address>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t6 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\tSome families, activists say term is too broad, masks unique issues of most severe cases as surging rates, federal plans turn spotlight on disorder\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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A wider public conversation has arisen over whether it\u2019s time for a shift in how we think about categories of autism, amid rising interest in the disorder across the country.<\/p>\n

For instance, some op-eds, written in recent weeks by parents<\/a> and activists<\/a>, argue the current definition of the condition as a unified spectrum comprising several subtypes is too broad, and the unique issues and intensive needs of the most severe cases get lost.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an argument that sits poorly with Ari Ne\u2019eman, assistant professor of health policy and management at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a longtime disability rights activist. He worries that creating a high-needs category risks a return to segregation and neglect \u2014 though he doesn\u2019t rule out the possibility that other subdivisions may make more sense. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe concern is this is a reboot of that fight, with this \u2018profound autism\u2019 construct as a new vehicle for litigating fights about inclusion that took place a generation ago around intellectual disability,\u201d said Ne\u2019eman, who was an adviser to the working group responsible for creating the umbrella term Autism Spectrum Disorder more than a dozen years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worry that the \u2018profound autism\u2019 construct is a political category designed to justify more segregated services, more than a scientific one \u2014 there is not really a clear reason to believe the different groups it combines belong in a distinct diagnosis,\u201d he said <\/p>\n

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\u201cI worry that the \u2018profound autism\u2019 construct is a political category … more than a scientific one,\u201d says Ari Ne\u2019eman, assistant professor of health policy and management. <\/p>\n

Veasey Conway\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The disagreement emerges as a national spotlight has been turned on the disorder. With autism rates surging in the nation, federal officials have recently announced moves to respond to it.<\/p>\n

According to the CDC, about one in 31 8-year-olds<\/a> has been diagnosed with the condition across 16 surveillance programs nationwide, a rate more than four times higher than when the CDC began tracking in 2000.<\/p>\n

It is a condition that includes both individuals with minimal or no verbal ability who require round-the-clock care, along with others like activist Greta Thunberg and academic and author Temple Grandin.<\/p>\n

In a September press release<\/a> calling autism an \u201cepidemic,\u201d President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called attention to contested links between autism and acetaminophen and announced investments into research into potential environmental, nutritional, and medical causes.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 19, the CDC updated its website<\/a>, noting that HHS would be looking at possible causes of autism, including possibly vaccines.<\/p>\n

Dozens of scientific studies<\/a> have failed to find evidence of such a link. Scientists say most of the current research suggests the causes of autism are overwhelmingly genetic. <\/p>\n

The overall rise in diagnosis, Ne\u2019eman explained, is likely due in large part to greater awareness on the parts of schools, parents, and clinicians. In addition, the medical establishment has been refining diagnostic criteria, changing who would qualify as autistic.  <\/p>\n

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\u201cMajor factors contributing to the increase in autism diagnoses include diagnostic substitution and the broadening of the autism criteria,\u201d says Tara Eicher, a postdoctoral research fellow.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The American Psychiatric Association\u2019s official handbook is called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, first published in 1952. Autism was officially recognized as a separate disorder in the DSM-III revision released in 1980. Prior to that, it was considered a form of schizophrenia.<\/p>\n

A later edition also added a condition called Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, or PDD-NOS.<\/p>\n

Those conditions were later consolidated. In 2013, the DSM-5 \u2014 which Ne\u2019eman advised on \u2014 further changed the game, including adding sensory issues to the diagnostic criteria and instigating a three-tiered categorization to distinguish between levels of support needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMajor factors contributing to the increase in autism diagnoses include diagnostic substitution and the broadening of the autism criteria,\u201d said Tara Eicher, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Chan School. \u201cBoth of these changes are overall positive, because they result in more people receiving the services they need.\u201d <\/p>\n

Eicher\u2019s work focuses on identifying genetic causes of autism. To date, hundreds of genetic mutations have been implicated in autism, with more expected to be identified in the future, and in many cases the interactions between genetic mutations, gene expressions, and behavior remain unclear. <\/p>\n

As calls for a new \u201cprofound\u201d category grow louder, Ne\u2019eman worries that such a category risks a return to problems surrounding care. In the 1970s through the 1990s, he explained, advocates in the field of intellectual disability rights successfully campaigned against institutionalization and sheltered workshop jobs at subminimum wages, which were common practices at the time. <\/p>\n

But with more people who might once have been labelled intellectually disabled now diagnosed as autistic, Ne\u2019eman fears the table could be reset.<\/p>\n

Combining very different kinds of severe impairment \u2014 communication and cognition \u2014 into a single catch-all category could result in segregation of some patients and a shift away from community living, he argued. <\/p>\n

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\u201cUltimately, it\u2019s how scrupulous and thoughtful the clinicians and social policymakers are as far as how these individuals are treated and supported, rather than what label we place on them,\u201d says visiting professor of law Michael Stein.<\/p>\n

Harvard file photo<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still, Ne\u2019eman empathizes with the families of those with severe impairment who don\u2019t feel seen by the current system. <\/p>\n

\u201cI do have a lot of sympathy for families who say, \u2018Listen, I want to be able to talk about the challenges around severe impairment,\u2019 and to have a language for that, to recognize that things are often quite a bit harder than for people who can talk or don\u2019t have an intellectual disability.\u201d <\/p>\n

That nuance is one reason Michael Stein<\/a>, visiting professor of law at the Harvard Law School and executive director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, says the terms themselves matter less than how they\u2019re used. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhether the category is broader or whether it\u2019s narrower, ultimately, it\u2019s how scrupulous and thoughtful the clinicians and social policymakers are as far as how these individuals are treated and supported, rather than what label we place on them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Health Taking a fresh look at definition of autism Sy Boles Harvard Staff Writer January 13, 2026 6 min read Some families, activists say term is too broad, masks unique issues of most severe cases as surging rates, federal plans turn spotlight on disorder A wider public conversation has arisen over whether it\u2019s time for …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"loftocean_post_primary_category":0,"loftocean_post_format_gallery":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_ids":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_urls":"","loftocean_post_format_video_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_video_url":"","loftocean_post_format_video_type":"","loftocean_post_format_video":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_type":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_url":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_audio":"","loftocean-featured-post":"","loftocean-like-count":0,"loftocean-view-count":126,"tinysalt_single_post_intro_label":"","tinysalt_single_post_intro_description":"","tinysalt_hide_post_featured_image":"","tinysalt_post_featured_media_position":"","tinysalt_single_site_header_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header_style":"sticky-scroll-up","tinysalt_single_site_footer_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_footer":"0","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-staying-healthy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}