Changes in clinical presentation of children with autistic disorder, at an autism clinic in Taiwan from 1987 to 1995

•Changes in clinical presentation of autism in Taiwan from 1987 to 1995 are reported.•Decreasing first visit age and increasing assessment age across the nine years are noted.•Lessening autism symptom and increasing developmental quotients across the nine years are also observed.•Improved diagnostic criteria, government policy, and increased awareness are attributed.

Autistic disorder was originally viewed as a distinct, rare, and severe childhood mental disorder that caused life-long disability. However, since the late 1990s autistic disorder was found to have a high prevalence rate and to affect children on a spectrum from mild to severe dysfunction. The purpose of this retrospective, descriptive study was to examine changes in the characteristics of patients with autistic disorder in Taiwan from 1987 to 1995. To that end, we examined the characteristics, age at diagnosis, symptoms, and developmental condition of affected children and the educational background of their parents who visited an autism clinic at the children's mental health center of a medical center in Taipei. This clinic was the first, largest, and for many years the only autistic disorder clinic in Taiwan. Across the 9-year study period, we observed trends in decreasing age at first visit, increasing age at assessment, rising maternal educational level, lessening autistic disorder symptomatology, and increasing developmental quotients. These changes may have been due to improved diagnostic criteria, government policy, and healthcare professionals’ and parents’ increased awareness of autistic disorder. Clinical implications and related policy making toward these changes are proposed.