Forum writer Daniel Ng Peng Keat has rightly raised an important concern about the need to better support children and individuals on the autism spectrum in Singapore (Time to get a more precise estimate of how common autism is in Singapore, April 11).

Planning for such support and resources will be easier in the presence of updated prevalence estimates of the condition within our local population.

Our team from the National University Hospital and National University Polyclinics studied the effectiveness of a screening tool for autism in early childhood in Singapore from 2020 to 2022.

One of our secondary results, from a large group of children, included an estimate of the prevalence of autism. Among 5,336 children, aged around 18 months, we found that the prevalence of autism was 1.1 per cent or roughly just over one in 100 children.

It is important to note that while our study was primarily focused on screening efficacy rather than prevalence estimation, the sample was representative of our national ethnic distribution and involved a scientifically accepted case-detection methodology.

Our findings, recently featured in “Screening tool for autism effective in detecting condition earlier in children: Study” (March 14), offer a contemporary reference point for autism prevalence in Singapore, though we recognise the limitations of our study in this regard.

I agree with Mr Ng that further studies are needed to fully understand the prevalence and trends of autism in Singapore, to better support the community of those on the autism spectrum.

This is on the minds of professionals within this sector as well and will be an important consideration as we continue to foster a more inclusive and supportive environment for the autism community in Singapore.

Aishworiya Ramkumar (Dr)

Consultant

Child Development Unit

Khoo Teck Puat-National University Children’s Medical Institute

National University Hospital