195. Early vs. Late Autism: The Biggest Autism Genetic Study Just Changed Everything

This week, we’re unpacking the largest autism genetic study ever published from Zhang et al. (2025, Nature). With data from more than 47,000 autistic participants, this study proves autism isn’t one disorder—it’s multiple developmental pathways.

Learn what this means for:

Early intervention and diagnostic timing

Familial vs. psychiatric genetic risk

Emotional and behavioral differences across trajectories

Join me as we rethink autism science through a developmental lens and how this impacts multi-disciplinary autism evaluations and recommendations.

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00:00 Introduction to Groundbreaking Autism Research
01:10 Overview of the Study
01:54 Changes in DSM-5 and Their Impact
04:56 Genetic and Developmental Profiles
06:42 Family History and Autism Risk
09:19 Implications for Practice and Assessments
17:21 Conclusion and Call to Action

Zhang, X., Grove, J., Gu, Y., Buus, C. K., Nielsen, L. K., Neufeld, S. A. S., Koko, M., Malawsky, D. S., Wade, E. M., Verhoef, E., Gui, A., Hegemann, L., APEX Consortium, iPSYCH Autism Consortium, PGC-PTSD Consortium, Geschwind, D. H., Wray, N. R., Havdahl, A., Ronald, A., St Pourcain, B., Robinson, E. B., Bourgeron, T., Baron-Cohen, S., Børglum, A. D., Martin, H. C., & Warrier, V. (2025). Polygenic and developmental profiles of autism differ by age at diagnosis. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09...