Brief report: symptom onset patterns and functional outcomes in young children with autism spectrum disorders.

The team sorted preschoolers with autism into four onset groups.

Early-onset, regression, plateau, and no-loss/no-plateau.

They then checked if any group looked different today in language, play, or social skills.

No group scored higher or lower than the others.

Kids who lost words at two played, talked, and socialized just like kids who never regressed.

Onset style told us nothing about current ability.

Sharp et al. (2010) saw the same four groups one year earlier yet claimed regression meant worse later severity.

The clash fades when you notice G used different tests and a hospital sample.

Heslop et al. (2007) also reported faster gains in non-regressors, but they tracked change over time, not a single snapshot like Stacy.

Gabriels et al. (2001) already found onset age alone does not predict severity, so the null fit is a quiet replication.

Stop using parent stories of word loss to forecast prognosis.

Treat the child in front of you, not the onset label.

Run your standard assessments and plan intensity from today’s data, not yesterday’s history.