CLINICIANS

The American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines call for universal autism and development delay screenings at 18 and 24 months, yet the median age of ASD diagnosis in the U.S. is still around five years of age.1

Delays in Diagnosis and the Risk of Watchful Waiting

Delayed Diagnosis and Missed Opportunities: By the time a child is five years of age the most impactful phase of brain development has passed, reducing the effectiveness of interventions.2,8

Watchful waiting in the hope that children will “outgrow” delays can have devastating effects-waiting until school age can lead to missed opportunities for early, more effective interventions.2,5,6 Waiting longer increases the costs of treatment and limits the child’s potential.2,3,7

  • Add travel and multi-hour behavioral assessments, and we’ve created a marathon for parents already in crisis.

The Risk of Misdiagnosis: Traditional diagnostic methods, like ADOS-2, often rely on subjective behavioral observations, which can be influenced by clinician bias or miss key signs of autism in milder cases. This can lead to incorrect diagnoses or delays inappropriate interventions, further complicating the treatment process.2,4,8,9,10

  • Each hand-off introduces variability: different evaluators, different subjective instruments and rating scales, different clinical thresholds; which means two children with identical behaviors can emerge with different outcomes, depending on where they live and who evaluates them.

Watch This Webinar: How Objective Biomarkers Are Changing The Autism Diagnosis & Therapy Journey

References

1. Hyman S, Levy S, Myers S, et al. Identification, Evaluation, and Management of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Pediatrics. 2020; 145 (1): e20193447.

2. Okoye C, Obialo-Ibeawuchi CM, Obajeun OA, Sarwar S, Tawfik C, Waleed MS, Wasim AU, Mohamoud I, Afolayan AY, Mbaezue RN. Early Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review and Analysis of the Risks and Benefits. Cureus. 2023 Aug 9;15(8):e43226. doi: 10.7759/cureus.43226. PMID: 37692637; PMCID: PMC10491411. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10491411/

3. Keehn B, Monahan P, Enneking B, Ryan T, Swigonski N, McNally Keehn R. Eye-Tracking Biomarkers and Autism Diagnosis in Primary Care. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 May 1;7(5):e2411190. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.11190. PMID: 38743420; PMCID: PMC11094561. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2818669

4. Chetcuti, L., Varcin, K.J., Boutrus, M. et al. Feasibility of a 2-minute eye-tracking protocol to support the early identification of autism. Sci Rep 14, 5117 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-55643-z https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-55643-z

5. Goldstar Rehab. Uncovering The Negative Impact Of Late Autism Diagnosis. 2025 Feb 26. https://www.goldstarrehab.com/parent-resources/negative-effects-of-an-autism-diagnosis-later-in-life

6. Dream Big Children. Adverse Effects of an Autism Diagnosis Later in Life. 2023 Nov 13. https://dreambigchildren.com/blog/adverse-effects-of-an-autism-diagnosis-later-in-life-why-early-intervention-is-better/

7. Georgia Tech. Methods: Outcome Data Collection Objective Early intervention in… https://autism.gatech.edu/downloads/methods-intervention.pdf

8. Pierce K, Gazestani VH, Bacon E, et al. Evaluation of the Diagnostic Stability of the Early Autism Spectrum Disorder Phenotype in the General Population Starting at 12 Months. JAMA Pediatr. 2019;173(6):578–587. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.0624 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2732144

9. Randall M, Egberts KJ, Samtani A, Scholten RJPM, Hooft L, Livingstone N, Sterling-Levis K, Woolfenden S, Williams K. Diagnostic tests for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in preschool children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2018, Issue 7. Art. No.: CD009044. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD009044.pub2 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6513463/

10. Kalb LG, Singh V, Hong JS, Holingue C, Ludwig NN, Pfeiffer D, Reetzke R, Gross AL, Landa R. Analysis of Race and Sex Bias in the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2). JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Apr 1;5(4):e229498. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.9498. PMID: 35471566; PMCID: PMC9044110. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2791527