Discrimination against people with disabilities takes many forms–and it’s not always intentional. Autism researchers often use ableist language, according to a recent analysis published in Autism and Adulthood.1
The first estimate of the prevalence of autism in American adults, carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in early 2020, estimates that about 1 in 45 (2.2%) adults are on the autism spectrum. And a 2016 survey of autism in children found that 1 in 68 (1.5%) 8-year-olds were identified as having autism.