(UK) NI: "Increased awareness, new legislation could explain rise in autism"

May 15, 2025, Belfast Live: Northern Ireland autism rates up on previous years, latest figures show 

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland-autism-rates-up-31650931 

The rate of autism diagnosis among school children in Northern Ireland has risen from just over 1% to nearly 6% since 2009, new statistics show.

New statistics published by the Department of Health this week show that there are 17,760 school aged children in Northern Ireland who have been diagnosed with autism. This represents an estimated 'autism prevalence rate' of 5.9% amongst school children - compared to 5% just two years ago.

While direct comparisons with statistics recorded before 2019 are not possible, due to a change in the way data is collected, there's been a clear increase in the proportion of school children diagnosed with autism in Northern Ireland.

Increased awareness and the introduction of new legislation over the course of the past 20 years could explain the rise, the report's authors say.

"The introduction of the Autism Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, and the accompanying increase in awareness via campaigns and events, may well have contributed to a rise in the number of assessments carried out and positive diagnoses received," the report states.

"Since 2014, the Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG, previously named the Health and Social Care Board) have in place a routine monitoring process which identifies those children who have undergone an assessment for autism and those who have received a positive diagnosis."

The report continues: "The historic annual increase in prevalence of children with autism since 2008/09 has been observed against a background of a relatively static school population."

Significant differences between genders were also identified in the report. The diagnosis rates for male school children was 8.3%, compared to 3.4% for female children. The report states: "Males were 2.5 times more likely to have a diagnosis of autism than females. This ratio is similar to that reported by the National Autistic Society (NAS) who have stated the most recent estimate for male-to-female autism ratio is nearer to 3:1."