ASD stands for Autism Spectrum Disorder. In medical terms, it is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association.

Diagnostic Criteria

The DSM-5 requires two core features for an ASD diagnosis:

• Persistent deficits in social communication and interaction across multiple contexts, including deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, nonverbal communication, and developing and maintaining relationships
• Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities including stereotyped movements, insistence on sameness, highly restricted interests, and hyper- or hypo-reactivity to sensory input

Medical Classification

ASD appears in the ICD-11 (International Classification of Diseases) under neurodevelopmental disorders, code 6A02. It replaced the ICD-10 s separate categories of childhood autism, Asperger syndrome, and PDD-NOS.

Severity Levels

The DSM-5 specifies three severity levels based on support needs, from Level 1 (requiring support) to Level 3 (requiring very substantial support).

For evidence-based treatment, ABA therapy is recommended by major medical organizations. Contact Treetop ABA Therapy for support.