AUTISM SPECTRUM

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disease typically diagnosed during childhood. The former name of ASD is autism, and many people still use the term. But ASD includes several conditions within the spectrum.

Autism vs. autism spectrum disorder (ASD) — what’s the difference?

The American Psychiatric Association changed the term autism to autism spectrum disorder in 2013. ASD is now an umbrella term that covers the different levels of autism. The autism spectrum includes conditions that providers used to consider separate, including:

  • Autism.

  • Asperger syndrome.

  • Pervasive developmental disorder — not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS)