Table 1.
Characteristics of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by the timing of diagnosis for ASD (N = 581).
| Multiply imputed sample (N = 581) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before school (n = 126, 21.4%) |
During primary school (n = 300, 50.7%) |
During secondary school (n = 155, 27.9%) |
Total ASD (N = 581) |
|
| % | % | % | % | |
| Sex of the child | ||||
| Male | 80.6 | 76.9 | 73.3 | 76.7 |
| Female | 19.4 | 23.1 | 26.7 | 23.3 |
| Cognitive abilitya | ||||
| Within normal range | 81.4 | 86.0 | 92.2 | 86.8 |
| Below 1 SD | 18.6 | 14.0 | 7.8 | 13.2 |
| Parental highest education | ||||
| A-levelb or above | 46.0 | 63.2 | 51.1 | 56.1 |
| Below A-levelb | 54.0 | 36.8 | 48.9 | 43.9 |
| Low household incomec | ||||
| Yes | 31.1 | 37.3 | 45.5 | 38.3 |
| No | 68.9 | 62.7 | 54.5 | 61.7 |
| Neighbourhood health deprivationd | ||||
| Yes | 7.5 | 10.6 | 15.2 | 11.2 |
| No | 92.5 | 89.4 | 84.8 | 88.8 |
Imputed and weighted percentages are shown.
a
Cognitive delay defined as scoring 1 SD below average on subscales of British Ability Scales assessed at age 5.
b
A-level is a qualification required to enter university.
c
Below 60% of UK national median household income.
d
Living in the top 10% of within-UK-country health-deprived areas (as measured using the health deprivation and disability domain of the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004/2005).