Recognition of Autism Later in Childhood/Adolescents

While it is possible to recognize and diagnose autism in most cases by the time a child is two-years old, this is often not the case. In many communities the settings that provide autism evaluations tend to focus on assessment of young children. Child Find efforts in the public schools often primarily target very young children.  Referrals for autism assessment in the public schools tend to slow down as students move through their school years.   

It may be that the early screening that occurs in communities missed some autistic children because they have strong academic skills, met their developmental milestones, or seemed to be “very social.” All these things can be true in an autistic individual; nonetheless, these factors sometimes lead the community to miss the autism early on.

If possible, it is helpful to find evaluators who are experienced in working with older children or adolescents. In some communities the teams or individual professionals who provide autism evaluations may need to seek consultation or training as they develop proficiencies in providing evaluations for clients who are older than those with whom they are most familiar.