Variation in Early Developmental Course in Autism and its Relation with Behavioral Outcome at 3–4 Years of Age

Abstract

The aims of the present study were to describe variations in the early course of development in autism by utilizing an in-depth parent interview that incorporated techniques to improve accuracy of parent recall, and to examine the relation between variations in early developmental course in autism and behavioral outcome at 3-4 years of age. The Early Development Interview, which consisted of questions about child's behavior in several domains from birth through 2 years of age, was created and administered to parents of 72 3-4-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder and 34 3-4-year-old children with developmental delay, who were matched on mental and chronological age, and 39 1-4-year-old typically developing children, who were matched to the clinical groups on mental age. At 3-4 years of age, children were administered standardized measures (some clinician administered and some parent report); these included verbal and nonverbal IQ, autism symptom severity, and adaptive and aberrant behavior. Based on the Early Development Interview, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were reported to have elevated symptoms in the social and regulatory domains by 3-6 months. By 12-15 months, parents of children with ASD reported significantly higher levels of social symptoms than parents of children with developmental delay. At 3-4 years of age, children with autism with early vs. late onset of symptoms, and with vs. without a history of loss of skills (regression) were not found to differ on standardized tests of verbal and nonverbal IQ and observational measures of autism symptom severity.

Gross Motor Development, Movement Abnormalities, and Early Identification of Autism

“…Several independent research teams have reported delays in socialcommunicative development prior to the onset of regression (Goldberg et al 2003;Ozonoff et al 2005;Werner et al 2005). The present investigation examined whether early motor differences might provide warning signs of impending regression.…”

Autistic characteristics in adults with epilepsy

“…Of interest, around one third of parents of autistic children claim their child regressed between 18-24 months old after a period of normal development. Parental detection has been consistently shown to be sensitive and a specific indicator for identifying ASD (Werner, Dawson, Munson, & Osterling, 2005). Further, no difference was found between early and late onset of symptoms (ibid.).…”

Identificação dos primeiros sintomas do autismo pelos pais

“…Por outro lado, pesquisas demonstram que os comprometimentos no desenvolvimento social são os primeiros sintomas a emergirem, embora reconhecidos apenas por uma pequena parcela dos pais (Johnson, 2008;Werner, Dawson, Munson, & Osterling, 2005). Contudo, ressalta-se que os estudos retrospectivos raramente especificam quais aspectos das áreas comprometidas pelo transtorno os pais são capazes de identificar.…”

“…Preocupações iniciais concernentes a aspectos da brincadeira, do desenvolvimento motor, da alimentação e do sono também foram reportadas por cuidadores de crianças com TEA (Daley, 2004;Werner & Dawson, 2005). Além disso, um estudo realizado com 36 crianças com TEA e 20 controles, com desenvolvimento típico, e seus pais, encontrou que de 20 a 30% dos cuidadores descrevem padrões de regressão de linguagem, envolvendo a perda de palavras previamente adquiridas (Werner & Dawson, 2005).…”

“…Além disso, um estudo realizado com 36 crianças com TEA e 20 controles, com desenvolvimento típico, e seus pais, encontrou que de 20 a 30% dos cuidadores descrevem padrões de regressão de linguagem, envolvendo a perda de palavras previamente adquiridas (Werner & Dawson, 2005). De fato, investigações recentes acerca do tema têm demonstrado que a regressão é um fenômeno fidedigno, que afeta uma parcela importante das crianças com TEA (Backes, Zanon, & Bosa, 2013;Wiggins, Rice, & Baio, 2009).…”