This paper takes stock of the current knowledge on the subject of autism spectrum disorders in a fairly detailed way and with relatively simple language. It highlights the main knowledge and concepts shared by the scientific community, which has recently formulated a pathogenic model on an epigenetic basis that justifies the impressive increase in the incidence of the pathology and allows pre- and perinatal prevention to be improved and a multi and interdisciplinary intervention to be hypothesized. Finally, it briefly addresses the therapeutic perspectives.