Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnostic Criteria

For a child to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, the child must meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria:
1.    Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts
2.    Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities
3.    Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifested until social demands exceed limited capacities, or may be masked by learned strategies in later life)
4.    Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning
5.    These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability or global developmental delay. Intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder frequently co-occur; to make co-morbid diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, social communication should be below that expected for general developmental level. 
NOTE: These are criteria medical professionals use along with patient history, patient age, parental input, their own medical expertise, and reports from evaluators using evidence-based screening tools.