On 2017 Jun 23, Dorothy V M Bishop commented:

There is some evidence for diagnostic substitution from developmental language disorder to autism. I suspect, unfortunately, that this might be harder to quantify in public data than the substitution from intellectual disability, unless states have been consistent in terminology used for language disorder. Our study on this topic was just based on an adult follow-up of a small sample of children who had been diagnosed with language disorder, but it was striking how some cases who were identified as cases of language disorder (or specific language impairment) 20-30 yr earlier would nowadays been seen as clearcut cases of ASD - not because of any change in their profiles, but rather because of less restrictive diagnostic criteria for autism. Autism and diagnostic substitution: evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder By: Bishop, Dorothy V. M.; Whitehouse, Andrew J. O.; Watt, Helen J.; et al. DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE AND CHILD NEUROLOGY Volume: 50 Issue: 5 Pages: 341-345 Published: MAY 2008

On 2017 Jun 23, Dorothy V M Bishop commented:

There is some evidence for diagnostic substitution from developmental language disorder to autism. I suspect, unfortunately, that this might be harder to quantify in public data than the substitution from intellectual disability, unless states have been consistent in terminology used for language disorder. Our study on this topic was just based on an adult follow-up of a small sample of children who had been diagnosed with language disorder, but it was striking how some cases who were identified as cases of language disorder (or specific language impairment) 20-30 yr earlier would nowadays been seen as clearcut cases of ASD - not because of any change in their profiles, but rather because of less restrictive diagnostic criteria for autism. Autism and diagnostic substitution: evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder By: Bishop, Dorothy V. M.; Whitehouse, Andrew J. O.; Watt, Helen J.; et al. DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE AND CHILD NEUROLOGY Volume: 50 Issue: 5 Pages: 341-345 Published: MAY 2008