What to know
The early identification of developmental problems should lead to further developmental and medical evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment, including early developmental intervention.
Information for Healthcare Providers
Information about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for healthcare providers, including free educational materials to give to parents and patients:
Did you know?
Screening tools can be used on younger children, usually require minimal training, take a short amount of time to administer, and can incorporate information from parents.
Materials to Share With Parents and Patients
Developmental Milestone Checklists
Print out milestone checklists for parents to complete. You can give this to a parent before their child's next well-child exam visit; they can bring it back filled out to use as a discussion guide for reviewing their child's development.
Download and print CDC's developmental milestones checklists
Help CDC Promote Autism Awareness!
ASD Awareness
Autism awareness is made possible by collecting the highest quality data available, followed by effectively communicating those findings across all communities. Having social and community awareness and support can help people with ASD achieve optimal health and reach their full potential.
- American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.