Posted on 04/02/2012 1:17:25 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Although most children with autism keep that diagnosis through teenage years and beyond, a new study suggests some kids might just "bloom" out of the developmental disability.
The study found about one in ten children diagnosed with severe forms of autism may shed many symptoms of the disorder by the time they turn 8-years-old.
The study, published in the April 2 issue of Pediatrics, examined the behavioral development of nearly 7,000 children with autism who were born in California between 1992 and 2001. Researchers were looking to track each child's development when it came to communication and social and repetitive behaviors until they were 14 years old.
What did they find? Some children improved rapidly, especially when it came to communication and social development. But the researchers also found other children with autism developed much slower, and did not show significant improvement in these areas by the time they became teens. Most improvements in autism symptoms occurred before the child turned 6, and children's repetitive behavior trajectories appeared to remain stable across the board, the researchers said.
However one finding jumped out: Almost 10 percent of kids, who the researchers called "bloomers", improved especially quickly and moved from "severely affected" to "high functioning," by age 8, as if they bloomed out of the disorder.
"We were really pleased that there is this group, which is relatively small but significant, who are able to improve so quickly," study author Christine Fountain, a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University, told HealthDay. "It's going to provide a hopeful message for parents [of autistic children]. We need more research to find exactly what's going on to make these children bloom."
The researchers determined children with autism may display one of six different development patterns when it comes to their behavior. What makes children with autism develop in such different ways compared to one another? The researchers weren't certain, but said children on the highest trajectories tended to have more educated, wealthier white parents. Children whose parents had the lowest socioeconomic status were much less likely to bloom, compared with advantaged families.
Not my son, unfortunately.
Access to treatment which isn't covered by insurance.
What an interesting article. We have an autistic son as well, and he has improved.
He stated improving when he was about 3. His doc put him on an anti-anxiety medication, and it helped him stop worrying and being scared of everything. It wasn’t magic, but it helped alot.
With speech therapy, occupational therapy, and sign language, he improved dramatically. He was very severe, and also tested mentally retarded due to severe communication delays.
Choose Ye This Day, I hope and pray you and your family and your precious son will continue to fight autism. I know it is life-sapping to care for a child with autism.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/113734.php
New research showing autism may actually be lyme disease.
I think that there are different degrees of autism, and maybe even different types.
I used to know a woman who had two autistic little boys. She told me that doctors told her that autism was more common among families where one or both of the parents were an engineer.
Yes, when the kids turn 18 and their parents no longer get what are called “crazy checks”, then and only then, will the kids diagnosed with autism of parental convenience have any chance at all.
That’s interesting because I have two autistic sons, and I am an Engineer, but thankfully I a educated, and White, so mine should just automatically snap out of it when they are about 8 years old... What a relief, oh the joys of being a privileged, educated white man (sarc) (what a load of rubbish)
How strange that CBS should publish a story that smacks of classism in relation to medical treatment when the Supreme Court is debating the constitutionality of a socialized medicine law.
What a strange coincidence.
I shouldn’t need a sarcasm tag on this but better not take any chances.
/S
The best science indicates that autistic children have 67% more brain cells than normal adults and that those cells are responsible for the “white noise” that autistic children are burdened with. All vertebrate neonates exterminate half of their brain cells during their early maturation process. Glutamate is believed to be the absent ingredient in facilitating the extermination process. it may be possible to normalize brain function in autistic children simply by optimizing the absorption of glutamate into the brain.
My son was diagnosed with Asperger’s after at age 6. He spend his first 3 years in a Soviet orphanage. He had a significant auditory processing disorder and other issues from sensory deprivation during his formative years.
I guess he was a bloomer. We tried all kinds of “common sense” approaches to no avail at home. What made a huge difference for us was one year of pediatric occupational therapy by some people who really knew what they were doing. He also did something called Samonas music therapy for the auditory processing disorder. We learned he was really not hearing our voices as much more than shrieks and hisses.
Thank God he was relatively bright and figured out how to read an write, because that opened up some wonderful doors for us to communicate with one another while he was “relearning” how to hear properly. One wonderful bonus of the music therapy was that he became an accompishlised violinist!
Today he’s doing fine. He took one year of college but decided he HAD to fulfill a lifetime dream of joining the Marines, (He promises me he’ll finish college later.) Most people would never know he had any difficulty as a child at all. He’s just fine. They love him in the Marines, because he never gives up until he accomplishes his goals.
We suspect my 22 month old grandson is autistic. He goes for more testing May 1.
I think that there are a whole lot of unidentified Aspies out there, who are just termed, nerdy engineers.
I also think that it is hereditary. We’re pretty sure my brother is one and my nephew, as well. My brother was a terror to live with, actually made my life miserable as child. He’ s done ok as an adult. If these kids are smart enough, they learn enough social skills to survive.
Social skills, manners and respect can be taught, even if it has to be feigned. I don’ t know how old your kids are, but I have read that those “my baby can read” videos work very well with autistic kids and give them a form of communication that can open doors to other things. There must be something like them for older kids as well.
We have gone through years of speech therapy, ABA therapy, vitamins, medications, injections, picture communication, iPad communication. Nothing has helped. Nothing.
I am overjoyed for those whose children are able to escape this life sentence, but at the same time we wish we could see some small amount of improvement.
The only thing that will help is divine intervention. Our son is an adult now, turning 19 next month, and he is a handful. We love him dearly, but it’s hard not to wonder for a few fleeting moments, “Why him?”
Glutamate has been fingered as the cause of Fibromyalgia. Too much v. too little; well just enough it OK.
There’s nothing we haven’t checked out at this point. We’ve been at this for a decade and a half. Some autistic kids have lots of digestion problems and eliminating gluten works wonders with them, as well as some meds. Our son doesn’t have any digestive problems, so those “solutions” don’t work for him.
So sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine the lifetime of struggles behind your simple statement.
glutamine is the most common amino acid in whey protein and an item that most of use are deficient in. In the autistic children the glutamate levels in the brain blood are elevated
because the insulin signaling that ushers amino acids into the brain neurons the is deficient.
I wish your son would improve as well. Our son was very aggressive and quite violent at times, and it was scary. Our case worker sat us down one day and said that someday he would be a very large, very strong autistic man, and would likely have to be placed in an institution for his and our safety.
I was bereft of hope and happiness. I wanted him to stay small forever, so I could always keep him with me.
I know you love your Son very much, but I have heard many people say autism is the hardest developmental disability to deal with. I think about families who care for their autistic children every day, and how hard it is.
Our pastor told us our Son was God’s child, and God had the Gates of heaven open for him since the day of his birth. That was the only thing that kept me going, many days.
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