Evidence consistently shows that autism symptoms often become apparent or get formally recognized only later in life, frequently due to compensatory masking behaviors and distinct developmental trajectories that delay diagnosis until adulthood.
The claim states that autism symptoms often become visibly apparent only later in life (or are recognized then due to presentation/masking). Multiple papers support the phenomenon of late-identified autism, adult recognition, masking, and developmental subtypes that present past childhood. No papers refute the core premise that autism can be identified late in life.