Can Some Children ‘lose’ Autism Diagnosis New Evidence Says Yes
“Can some Children Outgrow Autism?”
Most children with autism become adults with autism, retaining the same relationship, school, work and communication issues, but a new study says some individuals diagnosed with an autism disorder in early childhood can outgrow the disorder. These children have a clear case of autism when they are young, but now do not meet the criteria for any autistic disorder,” explained study author Deborah Fein, a professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut who researches autism. Their social functioning is very good, they’re all functioning in mainstream education with no support. One in 88 children is now affected by autism, which is the fastest-growing developmental disability in the U.S. Experts do not know why some children appear to outgrow the diagnosis as they age; there is no cure or medical test for autism. In the new study, published online in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Wednesday and supported by the National Institutes of Health, Fein and her colleagues looked at 34 “optimal outcome” individuals between 8 and 21 who were previously diagnosed with an autism disorder, but are now indistinguishable from their non-autistic peers. They showed no problems with language, communication, social interaction and facial recognition,” which can be difficult for individuals with autism. This is not a common outcome, she said. We don’t know what the percent is — it’s almost certainly under 25 percent, and it may be significantly lower than that. Study Limitations & Possible ConclusionsThere are limitations to these studies that affect how we can interpret the results.
What Causes Autism Spectrum DisorderThere is no clear-cut cause of ASD. Some causes that are supported by research include genetic and some environmental factors. Specific genetic causes can only be identified in 10% to 20% of cases. These cases include specific genetic syndromes associated with ASD and rare changes in the genetic code. Risk factors include older parental age, low birth weight, prematurity and maternal use of valproic acid or thalidomide during pregnancy, among others. This field of study is an active one for reasearch. Also Check: Is Asperger Syndrome A Type Of Autism Some Children Do Outgrow Autism But It’s Not What You ThinkIn the largest national study of children with autism to date, researchers examined one of the most mysterious aspects of autism spectrum disorder: that it sometimes simply vanishes. An estimated 1 in 68 children have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in the U.S., but researchers are beginning to take note of a small minority of children with ASD who seem to “grow out” of their diagnoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed more than 1,400 children with ASD — the largest nationally representative sample of children with autism to date — and found that about 13 percent of them seemed to shed their ASD-associated behaviors as they grew up. The catch: that doesn’t mean they’ve stumbled upon some kind of miracle therapy or cure. Rather, as some previous researchers theorized, most of them were simply misdiagnosed or intentionally diagnosed with ASD for other reasons. “The present study confirms that ASD diagnoses can and sometimes do change as children mature and overcome delays, and as new information is assimilated by their healthcare providers,” said Stephen Blumberg, lead author and an associate director for science at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Based on parent feedback, the diagnosis most often disappears in:
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