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Early- and late-diagnosed autism are genetically distinct

Analyses of symptoms and genomic data indicate that autism that manifests in early childhood is distinct from autism that is diagnosed later in development.
By
  1. Elliot M. Tucker-Drob

    1. Elliot M. Tucker-Drob is in the Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.

The core features of autism spectrum disorder are persistent difficulties in social communication and interactions, and restricted and repetitive behaviours, interests or activities1,2. Clinical diagnostic criteria generally require that these symptoms be observed in early childhood. However, the age at which a person is first diagnosed with autism varies considerably, ranging from the first years of life to adolescence and adulthood3, even in individuals who were screened in early childhood4.

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Nature 646, 1064-1065 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-02825-y

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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