Future directions

Abstract

With rising prevalence rates, improvements in early detection, and increased awareness overall, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) will increasingly be in the purview of primary care physicians and other community practitioners. In light of these developments, primary care providers will benefit from arming themselves with knowledge about the state of the science in ASD and best practices for care. We now understand ASD to have a strong genomic/epigenomic contribution and we have an accumulation of evidence to inform earliest detection, timely diagnosis, and behavioral interventions.