Age of Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Nepal.

Shrestha et al. (2019) looked at medical charts in Nepal. They wanted to know how old kids are when they first get an autism diagnosis.

The team pulled every ASD case seen at one pediatric clinic. They wrote down age at diagnosis for each child.

The average age of diagnosis was 58 months. That is almost five years old.

Kids can be reliably diagnosed much earlier, so this gap is a big problem.

Montiel-Nava et al. (2024) asked caregivers in Latin America the same question. Parents there first worried at 22 months, yet diagnosis still waited until 46 months. Both studies show the same pattern: long delay after early warning signs.

Hirota et al. (2021) found a fix. They read routine baby-handbook notes in Japan. Social-communication delays were already written at 24 months. Using records that already exist could catch kids in Nepal before they reach five.

Sicherman et al. (2018) showed family help matters. Grandmothers or older brothers who saw the child often sped diagnosis up by five to ten months. Nepal’s late average could shrink if clinics invite these relatives to screening talks.

Every extra year without help means lost learning time. If you work in low-resource areas, start screening before age two. Ask caregivers about eye contact, pointing, and name response. Check any baby-book milestone notes already on file. Invite grandparents and siblings to visits; they see the child every day and can flag early signs. These small steps can pull the diagnosis age closer to the reliable window and get kids into therapy when it helps most.