[The prevalence of autism: genuine and imaginary].

In this review, the authors analyze the causes of the high prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in recent decades. It is shown that the expansion of the boundaries of the 'autistic spectrum' concept led to a significant spread of data on its prevalence, depending on the time, diagnostic criteria, country and region. Stability of the diagnosis of ASD is not high and depends on the age of the child. Diagnostic practice in comorbid psychiatric disorders unfairly shifted toward ASD. At the same time, the hypothesis on the uniqueness of autistic manifestations in infancy is not convincingly confirmed. The practical aspect of the problem of the epidemiology of autism does not exclude, but on the contrary, presupposes early detection of nonspecific mental disorders followed by medical-psychological-pedagogical correction.