Abstract
Currently, estimates point to the prevalence of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) of one child every sixty-eight. The possibility of an epidemic is considered. This study makes some considerations about the increase in children diagnosed with ASD in the last decades. As a theoretical investigation, we thought of hypotheses for this phenomenon and its implications for the psychology clinical practice and searched databases such as Pubmed, Medline and BVS-PSI. The epidemiological data found indicated a significant increase in diagnosis in recent years, which raised a question about this possible epidemic. These findings have led us to suppose that such an increase is built by the articulation between the psychiatric and social perspectives. Our hypothesis holds that the psychologist’s practice for suffering in childhood should be guided by an ethical stance and a clinic attentive to care.
Keywords:
Autism; Diagnosis; Epidemic; Psychology