Autism and Asperger Syndrome in Seven-Year-Old Children: A Total Population Study

by Bjorn Kadesjo, Christopher Gillberg, and Bibbi Hagberg. (1999) Jr. Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 327-331.

“There were 826 children born in 1985 living in Karlstad (in central Sweden) at the beginning of the autumn term of 1992 ... All 826 children were screened for autism spectrum disorders.” (p. 327)

“The rate of Asperger syndrome was not widely discrepant from that of previous reports (48 in 10,000 compared with 26-36 in 10,000 in earlier studies).”

Note from Tony: The research literature would suggest that around one in 250 children have signs of Asperger’s Syndrome. This has considerable implications for clinicians and service providers.