Regressive Autism - Speech and Social Regression

Speech and Social Regression

Approximately 25–30% of children with autism spectrum disorders stop speaking after beginning to say words, often before the age of two. According to Ami Klin, "Most examples of autistic regression...are based upon a child's loss of a handful of words...it's possible that these children were only echoing sounds they heard from their parents" Some children lose social development instead of language; some lose both. After the regression, the child follows the standard pattern of autistic neurological development. The term refers to the appearance that neurological development has reversed; it is actually only the affected developmental skills, rather than the neurology as a whole, that regresses. It is more usual for autistic neurological development to not include such aberrations, with age-appropriate autistic symptoms being clear from birth.

Skill loss may be quite rapid, or may be slow and preceded by a lengthy period of no skill progression; the loss may be accompanied by reduced social play or increased irritability. The temporarily acquired skills typically amount to a few words of spoken language, and may include some rudimentary social perception. There are several intermediate types of development, which do not neatly fit into either the traditional early onset or the regressive categories, including mixtures of early deficits, failures to progress, subtle diminishments, and obvious losses. If regression is defined strictly to require loss of language, it is less common; if defined more broadly, to include cases where language is preserved but social interaction is diminished, it is more common.