Brief Report: The Prevalence of Neurofibromatosis Type 1 among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Identified by the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 46; no. 10; pp. 3369 - 3376
• Main Authors: Bilder, Deborah A., Bakian, Amanda V., Stevenson, David A., Carbone, Paul S., Cunniff, Christopher, Goodman, Alyson B., McMahon, William M., Fisher, Nicole P., Viskochil, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2016; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - diagnosis; Autism Spectrum Disorder - epidemiology; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic children; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Brief Report; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. - standards; Child; Child and School Psychology; Children; Communication skills; Community Based Instruction (Disabilities); Community Networks - standards; Comorbidity; Complications and side effects; Departments; Development and progression; Developmental disabilities; Developmental Disabilities - diagnosis; Developmental Disabilities - epidemiology; Developmental Psychology; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Diagnostic Tests; Disability Identification; Disease control; Elementary School Students; Etiology; Evaluation; Female; Humans; Incidence; Language Impairments; Male; Medical diagnosis; Mental Disorders; Networks; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders - diagnosis; Neurodevelopmental Disorders - epidemiology; Neurofibromatosis; Neurofibromatosis 1 - diagnosis; Neurofibromatosis 1 - epidemiology; Neurological Impairments; Neurosciences; Nonverbal Communication; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Practice guidelines (Medicine); Prevalence; Principals; Psychiatry; Psychology; Public Health; Recklinghausen's disease; Social Problems; United States - epidemiology; Verbal Communication; United States; New York; United States > US; Utah; Autism; Children; Neurofibromatosis; Developmental disabilities; Non-verbal communications
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2877-3

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an inherited neurocutaneous disorder associated with neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The frequency of ASD/NF1 co-occurrence has been subject to debate since the 1980s. This relationship was investigated in a large population-based sample of 8-year-old children identified with ASD (N = 12,271) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network. Twenty-two (1-in-558) children with ASD had diagnosed NF1, exceeding NF1 general population estimates by four to five fold. Children with ASD/NF1 versus ASD without NF1 were significantly less likely to receive a community-based ASD diagnosis ( p  = 0.04) and understand non-verbal communication ( p  = 0.001). These findings underscore the importance of including social-communication ability among relevant developmental concerns in children with NF1.