Are Autism Diagnoses Really Rising — or Are We Just More Aware?
Why Families and Professionals Are Asking This Question
In recent years, headlines and community conversations have highlighted what feels like a dramatic rise in autism diagnoses. Parents adopting from foster care or raising children with trauma often wonder: are more kids being born with autism, or are we simply diagnosing it more?
According to the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, autism prevalence among 8-year-olds in the United States was 32.2 per 1,000 (about 1 in 31) in 2020, a clear increase compared to past decades (CDC, 2023). At first glance, these numbers suggest autism cases are climbing. But experts caution that improved screening, broader diagnostic categories, and overlapping conditions all play a role.
ASD and Child Behavior Experts Speak Out
Aside from the increase in diagnosis, experts have noted the possibility in overlap in confusing developmental disorders with each other when it could be due to environmental factors and/or childhood trauma. On the MissPoppins Art of Parenting Podcast, Jaime Helen Harris, who has over 40 years of experience in therapeutic foster care, spoke about how easily trauma can be mistaken for autism.
“Some are diagnosed with autism and it’s actually complex trauma because a lot of the signs are the same” (Harris, MissPoppins Art of Parenting Podcast). She explained that trauma can produce behaviors that look strikingly similar to autism spectrum disorder (ASD): difficulty with social interaction, unusual play, food hoarding, or withdrawal.
In one case, Jaime described an 11-year-old girl placed in her home:
“We had just bought the groceries. And I got up the next day … all the groceries were gone. … She would do smearing — basically wiping poop on the walls. Over time we realized that she had been sexually abused from a young age. And so that’s complex trauma. That’s full childhood trauma right from when she was a baby” (Harris, MissPoppins Art of Parenting Podcast).
Why Autism Diagnoses Appear Higher Today
There are three main reasons why autism prevalence numbers look higher:
Better tools and earlier screening. Pediatricians and schools now identify developmental concerns much earlier than in previous generations (NIH, 2023). By the age of two, it is noted that a diagnosis of ASD can be considered reliable.
Broader diagnostic categories. The DSM-5 grouped conditions like Asperger’s syndrome and PDD-NOS under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder, capturing more children than before (Cleveland Clinic, 2024).
C-PTSD and Autism can look similar. Reaffirmed by Jaime, research also confirms that trauma and autism can present with similar symptoms, and children in foster care may be especially vulnerable to misdiagnosis if trauma histories are not considered. Some similarities include social sensitivities, speech delays, repetition in behaviors, avoiding stimuli, and difficulty in self-regulating emotions (Medical News Today, 2024).
Autism diagnoses are rising, but not solely because more children are being born with autism. Improved awareness, broader criteria, and diagnostic overlap with trauma all contribute. Jaime Helen Harris’s foster care experiences highlight how children with complex trauma can show autism-like traits, and why context matters in diagnosis.
For more of her case studies and insights, listen to the MissPoppins Art of Parenting Podcast featuring Jaime, who brings decades of experience in treating C-PTSD, ASD, and other behavioral concerns through trauma-informed parenting.