Autism diagnosis: A moving target

Recent articles

Portrait photograph of Donald Triplett against a black background.

Donald Triplett, autism’s ‘Case 1,’ dies at 89

Triplett gained media attention for his autism later in life, and he became the face of the effort to research the lives of older adults with autism.

By Shaena Montanari
20 June 2023 | 3 min read
Photograph of a mother with her child in a hallway waiting for an appointment.

Average autism diagnosis delayed by more than two years

The findings may explain why the average age at diagnosis has plateaued at 4 years old.

By Calli McMurray
16 June 2023 | 4 min read
Collage of multiple figures on a hillside looking at a large blue book in the distance.

Debate remains over changes in DSM-5 a decade on

Changes to the DSM-5’s diagnostic criteria for autism were meant to add clarity, but they also generated new questions.

By Shaena Montanari
31 May 2023 | 12 min read
Portrait of Cathy Lord.

Diagnosing autism with Catherine Lord

In this inaugural episode, Lord discusses her entry into autism research, what the future of the field might look like and how drama club saved her in high school.

By Brady Huggett
1 April 2023 | 63 min listen
Coraline with her family at home in Pennsylvania.

The promise of telehealth in autism diagnoses

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a reckoning, in which autism clinicians had to redefine best practices and expand how children are evaluated. The remote assessments they developed may help solve a persistent problem: the long wait families endure to get a diagnosis in the United States.

By Lydia Denworth
15 February 2023 | 22 min read

Clinicians lack confidence in diagnostic interviews with Black mothers

Implicit biases might be to blame, and the discrepancy persists across clinics, regardless of maternal education, family income and a child’s IQ score.

By Niko McCarty
13 May 2022 | 4 min read

Earlier autism diagnosis associated with greater trait improvement

Children who are diagnosed with autism before age 2 and a half years show more gains in their social skills than children who are diagnosed later.

By Peter Hess
2 December 2021 | 5 min read
Young patient getting diagnosis from doctor.

Diagnosis timeline drags for Black autistic children

High rates of intellectual disability among Black autistic children may reflect diagnostic delays.

By Laura Dattaro
24 August 2020 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Infant Brain Imaging Study findings, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 23 March.

By Jill Adams
24 March 2026 | 2 min read

Trading places: What happens when neuroscience turns into machine learning, and machine learning turns into neuroscience?

Neuroscience has become increasingly concerned with prediction, and machine learning with causal explanation, with each field adopting methods from the other. I asked eight experts to weigh in on what we stand to learn from this exchange.

By Samuel Gershman
23 March 2026 | 22 min read
DNA strand

Exon-skipping approach boosts levels of key Rett syndrome protein

Deleting a small region of the MECP2 gene partially restored function in neurons derived from people with Rett-associated variants.

By Giorgia Guglielmi
20 March 2026 | 5 min read