Autism

Question:

Can some people grow out of autism/aspergers?

Answer:

A large percentage of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) improve as they mature, with behaviors that caused difficulty when they were younger becoming less problematic. This is especially true in Asperger's cases, where these people have good cognitive abilities and learn to compensate for some of their patterns of behavior.

There are reports of some people "recovering" from autism, with their autistic symptoms improving to the point that they no longer meet the criteria for diagnosis of autism. This appears to be rare if it does occur. Some researchers are trying to look at this.

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Response by:

Daniel Coury, MD Medical Director, Professor, OSU Nisonger Center Behavioral Health and Development Nationwide Children’s Hospital College of Medicine The Ohio State University