Monte is a 3-year-old boy recently diagnosed with autism. he appears completely unresponsive to his parents and shows no indication of any language development. monte seems uninterested in communication of any kind and has significant rituals such as lining up his toys and realigning them every few minutes. he becomes hysterical if anyone interrupts his ritualistic activity. on an iq assessment designed for very young children, monte's score was extremely low. his prognosis is poor primarily because of:

a. early age of onset and lack of language acquisition
b. ritualistic behavior and disinterest in his parents
c. low iq and early age of onset
d. lack of language acquisition and low iq