Autism From 2 to 9 Years of Age.

The article presents a study that examines the stability of autism spectrum diagnoses made at age 2 through 9 years and identify features that predicted later diagnosis. A prospective study of diagnostic classifications from standardized instruments was made at ages 2 and 9 years compared with the criterion standard diagnoses formulated by the research team. The result revealed that each measure at age 2 years was strongly prognostic for autism at age 9 years with ratios of 6.6, 6.8 and 12.8 for parent interview, observation and clinical judgment, respectively.