Editorial note: The conclusion reached in these these stories is contentious/disputed. Autism is not "swallowing up" other diagnoses as is suggested. Other information is available elsewhere, for example here, here and here.

The way autism is diagnosed has led to an apparent tripling in cases in recent years that does not reflect reality, researchers say.

Rather, more youths with intellectual or developmental disabilities are being reclassified as autistic, the United States-based study published in American Journal of Medical Genetics found.

University of Western Australia Telethon Kids Institute's Andrew Whitehouse said the trend was "almost certainly the same in Australia".

The prevalence of autism in the US was just one in 5,000 in 1975.

It leapt to one in 150 in 2002, and reached one in 68 in 2012, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

"This new research provides the first direct evidence that much of the increase may be attributable merely to a reclassification of individuals with related neurological disorders rather than to an actual increase in the rate of new cases of autism," the study authors wrote.

When human beings see a face and socially engage with another human, whether it’s a stranger or loved one, we get a hit of the feel-good chemicals oxytocin and dopamine. It’s fleeting and subconscious a lot of the time, but it reinforces us to seek out and enjoy that face again.

More than 80% of people aged 16-25 with autism or Asperger's in Wirral have been victims of so-called mate crime, a report has found.

Wirral Autistic Society said the number young people who had suffered from mate crime was "staggeringly high".

Victims of this type of crime - by people who claim to be friends - suffer verbal and physical abuse and theft.

The survey, carried out earlier this year, collated 141 responses, which were all submitted anonymously.

1. Kristelle Hudry

   Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, La Trobe University

2. Andrew Whitehouse

   Winthrop Professor, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia

UNSW scientists have discovered a link between autism and genetic changes in some segments of DNA that are responsible for switching on genes in the brain.

UNSW scientists have discovered a link between autism and genetic changes in some segments of DNA that are responsible for switching on genes in the brain.

The finding is the result of a world-first study of the human brain that identified more than 100 of these DNA segments, known as enhancers, which are thought to play a vital role in normal development by controlling gene activity in the brain.

The overwhelming sense of feeling ‘different’ is familiar to many of the 230,000 Australians living with autism. But how does that actually play out as an adult in day-to-day life? 

A first of its kind UNSW-led study is aiming to better understand how adults with autism experience their world.

The overwhelming sense of feeling ‘different’ is familiar to many of the 230,000 Australians living with autism. But how does that actually play out in day-to-day life?

The trial of the $22 billion Nation­al Disability Insurance Scheme in South Australia has twice as many eligible clients as predicted, is 12 months behind schedule and is such a disaster that the federal minister responsible priv­ately calls it the country’s “worst” pilot of the scheme.

The agency delivering the NDIS has sought to hide the exten­t of the overrun in the state by releasing figures it knows are out of date.

A teenager with Asperger’s syndrome has given an important lesson to a gang of bullies who beat him up.

Rather than pressing charges, he recorded a 20-minute video about his condition for them to watch and learn about life from his point of view.

Gavin Joseph was tricked by a group of boys into thinking that they wanted to be friends with him, but they then violently attacked him because they felt his condition makes him ‘weird’ and ‘creepy’. 

Many people tend to think of autism as a male disorder, but emerging research shows that girls often have different symptoms which cause them to slip through the net. These girls and women are often misdiagnosed or go undiagnosed altogether. Lynne Malcolm and Olivia Willis report.

With the exception of a few notable women around the world, autism is widely considered to be a disorder that affects men.