Dimensional or Categorical Approaches to Autism? Both are Needed. A Reply to Nick Chown and Julia Leatherland

We are grateful for the careful thought that Chown and Leatherland (2020) have given to one part of our article in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry looking back over 30 years of autism research. They highlight a topic of much current debate: whether autism lies on a continuum with non-autism or ‘neurotypicality’. This is part of a wider discussion of whether neurodevelopmental and other conditions should be conceptualised dimensionally or categorically. …