Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Guanajuato, Mexico: The Leon survey.
Autism prevalence in central Mexico is 0.87 %, matching today’s global 1 % benchmark.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Fombonne et al. (2016) counted how many 8-year-olds in León, Mexico have autism.
They checked school and health records. They used the same rules doctors use everywhere.
What they found
About 1 in every 115 children had autism. That is 0.87 %. The true number is likely between 0.62 % and 1.1 %.
How this fits with other research
Zeidan et al. (2022) put the Mexico number into a giant world map of 200 studies. The new map shows the global average is also 1 %. The Mexico finding sits right on that line.
Older papers saw much lower numbers. Fombonne (2003) found 0.3–0.6 %. Gaily et al. (1998) found only 0.04–0.05 %. The jump is not a real epidemic. Doctors now count milder cases and use wider labels.
Similar city studies match León. Mansell et al. (2002) in the UK saw 0.6 %. Wong et al. (2025) in Hong Kong saw 2.6 %. Different places, similar 1 % neighborhood.
Why it matters
You can tell parents and teachers that 1 % is the best working number for Mexico and most countries. When you screen, expect about one child with autism in every 100 eight-year-olds. Use this fact to plan classes, train staff, and fight stigma. The number is not exploding; awareness is just catching up.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Use 1 % when you explain to teachers how many kids with autism to expect in third grade.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
There are no epidemiological data on autism for Mexico. This study was conducted to generate a first estimate of ASD prevalence in Mexico. We surveyed children age eight in Leon (Guanajuato). The sample was stratified in two strata: (1) children having special education and medical records (SEMR; N = 432) and (2) children attending regular schools (GSS; N = 11,684). GSS children were screened with the SRS and those with the highest scores were invited to a diagnostic evaluation. The final sample comprised 36 children (80.6 % male) who had confirmed ASD. A third had intellectual disability, 25 % were non-verbal, 69 % had co-occurring behavioral problems. The prevalence overall was 0.87 % (95 % CI 0.62, 1.1 %). This survey provides an estimate for ASD prevalence in Mexico that is consistent with recent studies.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2016 · doi:10.1007/s10803-016-2696-6