1/3 of autistic children outgrow diagnosis

[Anonymous]

http://bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2012/03/25/are-you-ready-for-wellness-coaching/YlLbjZFPwPeWebwyKeFOjM/story.html

Though there is no known cure for it, fully one-third of children once diagnosed with autism are no longer considered to be on the spectrum by the time they pass adolescence. It’s not yet clear how many of those children should not have been diagnosed in the first place, and how many improved enough to lose the label. The ones who are most likely to be taken off the spectrum are the ones with the fewest physical symptoms, said Li-Ching Lee, a psychiatric epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

[Anonymous]

This is not a study, just a newspaper article that states this line without any reference to where it came from. I am highly skeptical.

[Anonymous]

Here is the actual journal article

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/129/2/e305.abstract

[Anonymous]

Very interesting. I wonder if these figures will hold true of kids diagnosed today rather than a decade ago. Also curious to know what the "outgrown" ASD diagnosis is replaced with, if any.

[Anonymous]

I think the point is that clinicians had best get the diagnosis correct.

[Anonymous]

It's not about inpropper diagnosis IMO. It's about how good interventions are and how early we are starting. The brain is very plastic early on. My guess is of those who lose the diagnosis, some then qualify for ADHD alone or anxiety disorder NOS, etc and some no longer need any diagnosis.

[Anonymous]

DS is almost 3 and has no ASD diagnosis although he has what his dev ped calls "ASD traits". Dev ped told us that if we sought diagnoses with another specialist, we have 50/50 chances of getting an actual ASD diagnosis. DS has no "physical" symptoms (no digestive issues, sleep issues, skin or autoimmune) so far. He has speech delay, some intense interests/borderline repetative behaviors, attention and sensory seeking issues. The label hasn't mattered--obviously he has issues (though some friends/family don't see it) and we intervened fairly intensively by 18 months old. One of his OTs was "sure" he has ASD, the others have said no or if so, very HFA.

If he did get the ASD label, I could see him "outgrowing" it and having other diagnoses (ADHD, etc.) stick. Hard to say what progress he would have made without the interventions.

[Anonymous]

I wonder about the fact that the information is all parent reported. I know when we were first getting our DC evaluated, we got all sorts of diagnoses -- some from full evaluations, some from therapists talking at their arse. It turns out DC does have an ASD, but I would have a lot more confidence in these results if they tracked kids who all got their diagnoses in the same facility and were retested at that same facility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS is almost 3 and has no ASD diagnosis although he has what his dev ped calls "ASD traits". Dev ped told us that if we sought diagnoses with another specialist, we have 50/50 chances of getting an actual ASD diagnosis. DS has no "physical" symptoms (no digestive issues, sleep issues, skin or autoimmune) so far. He has speech delay, some intense interests/borderline repetative behaviors, attention and sensory seeking issues. The label hasn't mattered--obviously he has issues (though some friends/family don't see it) and we intervened fairly intensively by 18 months old. One of his OTs was "sure" he has ASD, the others have said no or if so, very HFA.

If he did get the ASD label, I could see him "outgrowing" it and having other diagnoses (ADHD, etc.) stick. Hard to say what progress he would have made without the interventions.

This was my DC except we were told he would be diagnosed and we had the option to do it. He is 8 1/2 now & other than some odd/intense interests there isn't anything there. We meet with a the department head at a major hospital sort of before & after and he said that if he hadn't put it in the file he never would have believed it.

I think there are some kids that you can "teach" to grow out of it. Doesn't mean that kids that don't "grow out of it" had parents that tried less, just all part of how ASD is so different for each child. My son is very malleable and easy going, so it was kind of like training a lab puppy. Make eye contact, don't walk on your tip-toes, ask your friend what their favorite color is, try not to flap your hands, say "hi, my name is **** would you like to play".......

[Anonymous]

PP again 17:33, my son also had three seizures less than 2 minutes each, around 18 months, 5 1/2 years, and 7 1/2 years, after each seizure (triggered by the three fevers he has ever had) he would make dramatic leaps ahead. The seizure at 18 months, he started to make eye contact again, seizure at 5 1/2 he was able to engage in a conversation (not just one-sided statements & questions), seizure at 7 1/2 social skills increased. This were not changes over a period of several months, this were marked charges in a period of less than 7 days. My point is, the brain is an amazing thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP again 17:33, my son also had three seizures less than 2 minutes each, around 18 months, 5 1/2 years, and 7 1/2 years, after each seizure (triggered by the three fevers he has ever had) he would make dramatic leaps ahead. The seizure at 18 months, he started to make eye contact again, seizure at 5 1/2 he was able to engage in a conversation (not just one-sided statements & questions), seizure at 7 1/2 social skills increased. This were not changes over a period of several months, this were marked charges in a period of less than 7 days. My point is, the brain is an amazing thing.

That is so weird because some kids lose functioning after a seizure. It sounds like it rewired your DS' brain, in the same manner the EST rewires the brains of people with depression. Not that I think they should be doing this to kids on purpose.

[Anonymous]

The subject line for this thread is a misinterpretation. These kids most likely have their issues recast as personality and psychiatric disorder, that's all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The subject line for this thread is a misinterpretation. These kids most likely have their issues recast as personality and psychiatric disorder, that's all.

That's a stretch. Many of them were found later to have speech issues, learning issues and/or some anxiety. Those are far different issues from autism and need to be treated differently for best outcome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS is almost 3 and has no ASD diagnosis although he has what his dev ped calls "ASD traits". Dev ped told us that if we sought diagnoses with another specialist, we have 50/50 chances of getting an actual ASD diagnosis. DS has no "physical" symptoms (no digestive issues, sleep issues, skin or autoimmune) so far. He has speech delay, some intense interests/borderline repetative behaviors, attention and sensory seeking issues. The label hasn't mattered--obviously he has issues (though some friends/family don't see it) and we intervened fairly intensively by 18 months old. One of his OTs was "sure" he has ASD, the others have said no or if so, very HFA.

If he did get the ASD label, I could see him "outgrowing" it and having other diagnoses (ADHD, etc.) stick. Hard to say what progress he would have made without the interventions.

This was my DC except we were told he would be diagnosed and we had the option to do it. He is 8 1/2 now & other than some odd/intense interests there isn't anything there. We meet with a the department head at a major hospital sort of before & after and he said that if he hadn't put it in the file he never would have believed it.

I think there are some kids that you can "teach" to grow out of it. Doesn't mean that kids that don't "grow out of it" had parents that tried less, just all part of how ASD is so different for each child. My son is very malleable and easy going, so it was kind of like training a lab puppy. Make eye contact, don't walk on your tip-toes, ask your friend what their favorite color is, try not to flap your hands, say "hi, my name is **** would you like to play".......

I'm the PP you quoted. Would you mind sharing some info? It sounds like you also did some interventions--what do you do? ST? OT? Do you feel that the were needed and helpful or do you feel that your DC would be in the same place without it?

[Anonymous]

Couldn't you say that if it goes away, it wasn't ASD in the first place? That it doesn't meet the criteria?