Clinical Features of Autistic Children with Setback Course in Their Infancy

Abstract

This study examines the incidence rate of setback in 80 autistic children, the correlation between the type of onset and clinical features, developmental level and prognosis based on an originally developed questionnaire. Moreover, this study seeks to investigate the possibility that infantile autism might be classified into subgroups by the type of onset. The acquired (including questionably acquired) group consisted of 39 cases (49%), while the natal group was made up of 41 cases (51%). The age when the setback occurred was 21–22 months in the acquired group. Precipitating psychological events were observed in 22 cases (56%) of the acquired group. The mental developmental level including speech and sociability function at 5 years of age was significantly lower in the acquired group than in the natal group. The acquired group showed severe behavioral disorderssuch as “stereotypic behavior,”“extremely hyperkinetic behavior” and “self‐abusive behavior” compared with the natal group. The adaptive levels at schools or institutions were lower in the acquired group than in the natal group. There was a higher incidence of epileptic seizures orfebrile convulsions in the acquired group than in the natal group. Moreover, there was a higher incidence of severe perinatal abnormalities in the acquired group. The above‐mentioned results suggest that infantile autism might be classified into two subgroups, acquired and natal groups, based on the typeof onset, and also suggest that some types of brain dysfunctions are more severe in the acquired group than in the natal group.

Social and Communication Development in Toddlers With Early and Later Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Our data suggest that, in many cases, ASD has a progressive phase involving developmental arrest, slowing, or even regression in social and/or language systems. This phenomenon has been indicated by retrospective reports of autistic regression [23][24][25][26][27][28] and in one prospective report. 32 In a prospective study of infant AU sibs, Zwaigenbaum and colleagues 32 noted an atypical trajectory of development of attention disengagement.…”

“…Up to 50% may display typical development or only mild delays until 15 to 24 months of age, followed by loss of language, communication, and/or social skills. [23][24][25][26][27][28] In a retrospective study of regression in autism, Werner and Dawson 23 compared 12-and 24-month videotapes of children with nonregressive early onset of autism, regressed autism, and typical development. The authors reported that levels of complex babbling, word production, and declarative pointing produced by the early-onset ASD group were lower than those produced by other groups at 14 months of age.…”

Landau kleffner syndrome, electrical status epilepticus in sleep and autistic regression: an overview of literature / Landau kleffner sendromu, uykuda elektriksel status epileptikus ve otistik regresyon: Literatüre bir bakış

“…Some studies, especially the older reports, demonstrated higher rates of epilepsy in autistic children with a history of regression versus the autistic children without regression (79,80,103,104). These results raised the questions if there is a clinically important relation between epileptiform EEG and/or epilepsy and AR as it is shown in ESES or LKS patients.…”

“…Approximetely 1/3 of the parents (%20-56) of autistic children report an early regression in their children (1,3,(77)(78)(79)(80)(81)(82). This regression takes place before 3 years of age, commonly between 18-24 months when the child was in the stage of 3-5 words vocabulary (73,78,83,84).…”

A portable audio/video recorder for longitudinal study of child development

“…When asked about initial concerns regarding their child with ASD, at least 30-50% of parents recall abnormalities dating back to the first year, including poor eye contact [11,12,25], lack of response to the parents' voices or attempts to play and interact [11,12,17,25], and extremes of temperament and behavior ranging from alarming passivity to marked irritability [11,12]. Similarly, several studies of early home videos have revealed behaviors indicative of ASD in children later diagnosed compared to those of typically developing children [2,5,15,18].…”