Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T17:00:44.377Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Patterns of skill attainment and loss in young children with autism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2013

Audrey Thurm ,
Stacy S. Manwaring ,
David A. Luckenbaugh ,
Catherine Lord  and
Susan E. Swedo
Audrey Thurm*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health
Stacy S. Manwaring
Affiliation:
University of Utah
David A. Luckenbaugh
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health
Catherine Lord
Affiliation:
Cornell University
Susan E. Swedo
Affiliation:
National Institute of Mental Health
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Audrey Thurm, Pediatrics & Developmental Neuroscience Branch, NIMH, 10 Center Drive, MSC 1255, Building 10, Room 1C250, Bethesda, MD 20892-1255; E-mail: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to extend the literature on the ontogeny of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by examining early attainment and loss of specific sociocommunicative skills in children with autism (AUT; n = 125), pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS; n = 42), nonspectrum developmental delays (n = 46), and typical development (n = 31). The ages of skill attainment and loss were obtained from a caregiver interview. The findings indicated that children with AUT, PDD-NOS, and developmental delays diverged from typically developing children in attainment of sociocommunicative skills early in the first year of life. Loss of at least one skill was reported in a majority of children with AUT and PDD-NOS. Significant delays in attainment of skills were also reported in children who lost skills. The wide variation in skill attainment and loss reported across children indicates that symptom onset and regression may be best represented continuously, with at least some early delay and loss present for a great majority of children with ASD.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 203 - 214
Creative Commons
This is a work of the US Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States.
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baird, G., Charman, T., Pickles, A., Chandler, S., Loucas, T., Meldrum, D., et al. (2008). Regression, developmental trajectory and associated problems in disorders in the autism spectrum: The SNAP study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38, 1827–1836.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baird, G., Robinson, R. O., Boyd, S., & Charman, T. (2006). Sleep electroencephalograms in young children with autism with and without regression. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 48, 604–608.Google Scholar
Baranek, G. (1999). Autism during infancy: A retrospective video analysis of sensory-motor and social behaviors at 9–12 months of age. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 213–224.Google Scholar
Barger, B. D., Campbell, J. M., & McDonough, J. D. (2012). Prevalence and onset of regression within autism spectrum disorders: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Advance online publication. doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1621-xGoogle Scholar
Beauchaine, T. P. (2003). Taxometrics and developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 15, 501–527.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Cohen, D. J. (2006). The developing brain and neural plasticity: Implications for normality, psychopathology and resilience. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 2: Developmental neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 1–64). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analyses for the behavioral sciences. (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Davidovitch, M., Glick, L., Holtzman, G., Tirosh, E., & Safir, M. (2000). Developmental regression in autism: Maternal perception. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 113–119.Google Scholar
Dawson, G. (2008). Early behavioral intervention, brain plasticity, and the prevention of autism spectrum disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 775–803.Google Scholar
Elliott, C. D. (2007). Differential Ability Scales II. Unpublished manuscript, San Antonio, TX.Google Scholar
Hansen, R. L., Ozonoff, S., Krakowiak, P., Angkustsiri, K., Jones, C., Deprey, L. J., et al. (2008). Regression in autism: Prevalence and associated factors in the CHARGE Study. Ambulatory Pediatrics, 8, 25–31.Google Scholar
Jones, L. A., & Campbell, J. M. (2010). Clinical characteristics associated with language regression for children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40, 54–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kalb, L. G., Law, J. K., Landa, R., & Law, P. A. (2010). Onset patterns prior to 36 months in autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40, 1389–1402.Google Scholar
Kanner, L. E. L. (1956). Early infantile autism. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 26, 55–65.Google Scholar
Kurita, H. (1985). Infantile autism with speech loss before the age of thirty months. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 191–196.Google Scholar
Landa, R., & Garrett-Mayer, E. (2006). Development in infants with autism spectrum disorders: A prospective study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 629–638.Google Scholar
Le Couteur, A., Lord, C., & Rutter, M. (2003). The Autism Diagnostic Interview—Revised (ADI-R). Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.Google Scholar
Lord, C., Luyster, R., Guthrie, W., & Pickles, A. (2012). Patterns of developmental trajectories in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/a0027214Google Scholar
Lord, C., Risi, S., Lambrecht, L., Cook, E. H. Jr., Leventhal, B. L., DiLavore, P. C., et al. (2000). The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule—Generic: A standard measure of social and communication deficits associated with the spectrum of autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 205–223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lord, C., Shulman, C., & DiLavore, P. (2004). Regression and word loss in autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 936–955.Google Scholar
Losh, M., Sullivan, P. F., Trembath, D., & Piven, J. (2008). Current developments in the genetics of autism: From phenome to genome. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 67, 829–837.Google Scholar
Luyster, R., Richler, J., Risi, S., Hsu, W. L., Dawson, G., Bernier, R., et al. (2005). Early regression in social communication in autism spectrum disorders: A CPEA Study. Developmental Neuropsychology, 27, 311–336.Google Scholar
Maestro, S., Muratori, F., Cesari, A., Pecini, C., Apicella, F., & Stern, D. (2006). A view to regressive autism through home movies. Is early development really normal? Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 113, 68–72.Google Scholar
McVicar, K. A., Ballaban-Gil, K., Rapin, I., Moshe, S. L., & Shinnar, S. (2005). Epileptiform EEG abnormalities in children with language regression. Neurology, 65, 129–131.Google Scholar
Mitchell, S., Brian, J., Zwaigenbaum, L., Roberts, W., Szatmari, P., Smith, I., et al. (2006). Early language and communication development of infants later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 27(Suppl. 2), S69–S78.Google Scholar
Molloy, C. A., Keddache, M., & Martin, L. J. (2005). Evidence for linkage on 21q and 7q in a subset of autism characterized by developmental regression. Molecular Psychiatry, 10, 741–746.Google Scholar
Mullen, E. M. (1995). Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
Nordahl, C. W., Lange, N., Li, D. D., Barnett, L. A., Lee, A., Buonocore, M. H., et al. (2011). Brain enlargement is associated with regression in preschool-age boys with autism spectrum disorders. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108, 20195–20200.Google Scholar
Osterling, J. A., Dawson, G., & Munson, J. A. (2002). Early recognition of 1-year-old infants with autism spectrum disorder versus mental retardation. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 239–251.Google Scholar
Ozonoff, S., Heung, K., Byrd, R., Hansen, R., & Hertz-Picciotto, I. (2008). The onset of autism: Patterns of symptom emergence in the first years of life. Autism Research, 1, 320–328.Google Scholar
Ozonoff, S., Iosif, A. M., Baguio, F., Cook, I. C., Hill, M. M., Hutman, T., et al. (2010). A prospective study of the emergence of early behavioral signs of autism. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49, 256–266.Google Scholar
Ozonoff, S., Iosif, A. M., Young, G. S., Hepburn, S., Thompson, M., Colombi, C., et al. (2011). Onset patterns in autism: Correspondence between home video and parent report. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 50, 796–806.Google Scholar
Ozonoff, S., Pennington, B. F., & Solomon, M. (2006). Neuropsychological perspectives on developmental psychopathology. In Cicchetti, D. & Cohen, D. (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychopathology: Vol. 2. Developmental neuroscience (2nd ed., pp. 332–380). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Ozonoff, S., Williams, B. J., & Landa, R. (2005). Parental report of the early development of children with regressive autism: The delays-plus-regression phenotype. Autism, 9, 461–486.Google Scholar
Pandey, J., Verbalis, A., Robins, D. L., Boorstein, H., Klin, A. M., Babitz, T., et al. (2008). Screening for autism in older and younger toddlers with the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers. Autism, 12, 513–535.Google Scholar
Parr, J. R., Le Couteur, A., Baird, G., Rutter, M., Pickles, A., Fombonne, E., et al. (2011). Early developmental regression in autism spectrum disorder: Evidence from an international multiplex sample. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41, 332–340.Google Scholar
Pickles, A., Neale, M., Simonoff, E., Rutter, M., Hewitt, J., Meyer, J., et al. (1994). A simple method for censored age-of-onset data subject to recall bias: Mothers' reports of age of puberty in male twins. Behavior Genetics, 24, 457–468.Google Scholar
Pickles, A., Simonoff, E., Conti-Ramsden, G., Falcaro, M., Simkin, Z., Charman, T., et al. (2009). Loss of language in early development of autism and specific language impairment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 50, 843–852.Google Scholar
Risi, S., Lord, C., Gotham, K., Corsello, C., Chrysler, C., Szatmari, P., et al. (2006). Combining information from multiple sources in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 45, 1094–1103.Google Scholar
Rogers, S. J., & DiLalla, D. L. (1990). Age of symptom onset in young children with pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 863–872.Google Scholar
Shinnar, S., Rapin, I., Arnold, S., Tuchman, R. F., Shulman, L., Ballaban-Gil, K., et al. (2001). Language regression in childhood. Pediatric Neurology, 24, 183–189.Google Scholar
Shumway, S., Thurm, A., Swedo, S. E., Deprey, L., Barnett, L., Amaral, D. G., et al. (2011). Brief report: Symptom onset patterns and functional outcomes in young children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41, 1727–1732.Google Scholar
Sullivan, M., Finelli, J., Marvin, A., Garrett-Mayer, E., Bauman, M., & Landa, R. (2007). Response to joint attention in toddlers at risk for autism spectrum disorder: A prospective study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 37–48.Google Scholar
Tager-Flusberg, H. (2010). The origins of social impairments in autism spectrum disorder: Studies of infants at risk. Neural Networks, 23, 1072–1076.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vargas, D. L., Nascimbene, C., Krishnan, C., Zimmerman, A. W., & Pardo, C. A. (2005). Neuroglial activation and neuroinflammation in the brain of patients with autism. Annals of Neurology, 57, 67–81.Google Scholar
Ventola, P., Kleinman, J., Pandey, J., Wilson, L., Esser, E., Boorstein, H., et al. (2007). Differentiating between autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities in children who failed a screening instrument for ASD. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 425–436.Google Scholar
Werner, E., & Dawson, G. (2005). Validation of the phenomenon of autistic regression using home videotapes. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 889–895.Google Scholar
Werner, E., Dawson, G., Munson, J., & Osterling, J. (2005). Variation in early developmental course in autism and its relation with behavioral outcome at 3–4 years of age. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35, 337–350.Google Scholar
Werner, E., Dawson, G., Osterling, J., & Dinno, N. (2000). Brief report: Recognition of autism spectrum disorder before one year of age: A retrospective study based on home videotapes. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 157–162.Google Scholar
Yirmiya, N., & Charman, T. (2010). The prodrome of autism: Early behavioral and biological signs, regression, peri- and post-natal development and genetics Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 432–458.Google Scholar
Zwaigenbaum, L., Bryson, S., Lord, C., Rogers, S., Carter, A., Carver, L., et al. (2009). Clinical assessment and management of toddlers with suspected autism spectrum disorder: Insights from studies of high-risk infants. Pediatrics, 123, 1383–1391.Google Scholar
Zwaigenbaum, L., Bryson, S., Rogers, T., Roberts, W., Brian, J., & Szatmari, P. (2005). Behavioral manifestations of autism in the first year of life. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 23, 143–152.Google Scholar
Zwaigenbaum, L., Thurm, A., Stone, W., Baranek, G., Bryson, S., & Iverson, J. (2007). Studying the emergence of autism spectrum disorders in high-risk infants: Methodological and practical issues. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 466–480.Google Scholar