Meaning & use
autistic disorder
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountablemedicalspecialist
A former medical diagnosis for a developmental condition affecting social communication and behavior, now included under autism spectrum disorder.
Grammar: Used as a medical label without an article: He was diagnosed with autistic disorder.
Patterns
- diagnose someone with autistic disorder
- a diagnosis of autistic disorder
The doctor explained that autistic disorder was the term used when her son was diagnosed in the 1990s.
In older medical manuals, autistic disorder was listed separately from other autism-related conditions.
Researchers now consider autistic disorder part of the wider autism spectrum.
Common combinations
- diagnosed with autistic disorder
- He was diagnosed with autistic disorder at the age of three.
- a diagnosis of autistic disorder
- The report gave a diagnosis of autistic disorder and recommended support at school.
- autistic disorder diagnosis
- An autistic disorder diagnosis in childhood often led to specialized educational plans.
Synonyms and how they differ
- autism
- The everyday, general term; it is broader and less clinical than autistic disorder.
- autism spectrum disorder
- The current official diagnosis that replaced autistic disorder; it covers a wider range of profiles.
Word family
Commonly confused: autistic disorder or autism spectrum disorder?
autistic disorder vs autism spectrum disorder
This is the modern umbrella diagnosis; autistic disorder was one specific category within it in older manuals.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'autistic disorder' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Only the first sentence uses the term as a medical diagnosis. The others treat it as a countable object, a physical illness, or a contagious disease, which is wrong.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “autistic disorder”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.