About Us

Recognizing the Early Signs of ASDs

We naturally think of a child's growth as height and weight, but from birth to 5 years, a child should reach milestones in how he or she plays, learns, speaks and acts. A delay in any of these areas could be a sign of ASD or other developmental disability.

Through the "Learn the Signs. Act Early." campaign, CDC and its partners work together to educate parents about child development, including early warning signs of ASDs and other developmental disorders, and encourage developmental screening and intervention.

Understanding Risk Factors and Causes of ASDs

Understanding the risk factors that make a person more likely to develop autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) will help us learn more about the causes. CDC is currently funding and working on one of the largest U.S. studies to date, called Study to Explore Early Development (SEED).

SEED will help identify factors that may put children at risk for ASDs and other developmental disabilities. SEED is a multi-year study being conducted at six sites and a data coordinating center, called the Centers for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology (CADDRE) network.

Determining How Many People Have ASDs

More people than ever before are being diagnosed with an ASD. It is unclear how much of this increase is due to a broader definition of ASDs and better efforts in diagnosis. However, a true increase in the number of people with an ASD cannot be ruled out. We believe the increase in ASD diagnosis is possibly due to a cosmbination of these factors.

By studying the number of people diagnosed with an ASD over time, we can find out if the number is rising, dropping, or staying the same. We can also compare the number of children with ASDs in different areas of the country and different groups of people. This information can help us look for causes of ASDs.

To learn more about this work, please visit our Research Page »

Vaccine Studies

There have been many studies that have looked at whether there is a relationship between vaccines and ASDs. To date, the studies continue to show that vaccines are not associated with ASDs.

CDC has funded and participated in several studies related to ASDs and vaccines. To learn more about these studies, please visit our Research Page.