How does autism progress over time?

Answer 1

For some people's cases, yes, their symptoms can change over time or with age. Scientists have learned this from testing the autistic brain as a person got older, and discovered that some improve in their skills to communicate to others and register people's words quicker and without as much struggle. This could also be because of developed therapies that scientists have designed for certain cases.

Also, since the 1980's the amount of autistic people around the world has nearly doubled in size! Scientists are still searching for a cure, which now more and more people require.

For more information go to "www.kidshealth.org". That's how I got my info!

Answer 2

Yes, almost inevitably. Given an environment that makes it easy for him to learn, an autistic child will gain skills as he grows older; and learning doesn't stop when he reaches adulthood. Especially important are the first few years, before school starts; language is easier to learn the younger you are--though it's possible to learn communicative language as late as their teen years or even adulthood. For example, among children with speech delays, about 90% of them are speaking by the time they are nine years old. Many of the rest will learn sign or writing, or learn speech later on. It is possible for an autistic person to gain skills enough to compensate for his weaknesses, so that eventually he is no longer disabled. Good education is important.

It's also possible to lose skills. During times of extreme stress--including developmental surges such as those that happen during the ages of 2-3 or during puberty--an autistic person may find himself without the resources to maintain all the skills he has gained, and thus lose some of them. It is usually possible to gain them back later. Shorter periods of skill loss may happen on a particularly bad day or during an illness. Many autistic people deliberately "slow down" and relax, often seeming more autistic, when they sense they have less in reserve than they ought to; this sort of coping skill is often mistaken for "withdrawing" and can be distinguished from depression by the fact that after a period of withdrawal, the person usually feels better able to take on the world again.

Answer 3

They have similar symptoms, but they are NOT exactly the same. The symptoms are based off a psychedelic chemical inside their brains, which function differently in every single autistic person.

Autism is a spectrum of symptoms - that is, there are a wide variety of possible symptoms, which may or may not be present in any one individual diagnosed with autism, and generally vary in severity for each autistic patient.

Additionally, the disease appears to be neuro-chemical-based (that is, autism appears to be a problem with neurochemicals in the central nervous system), but which specific chemicals they are, how they cause the disease, and disease mechanics in general are very, very poorly understood. There are a lot of theories, with very little hard fact about what is going on in an autistic person's brain. Claims that "X" causes autism, or that someone claims to understand how autism works should be met with enormous amounts of skepticism.

Answer 4

It doesn't progress. As a person grows up expectations increase so disabilities that don't interfere with life as a 5 year old become real problems at 25. Or you can learn to compensate for your differences so you "seem' to be "more functional" (more like everyone else :-) but you're still the same inside.

I mean, it's not like it gets worse overtime like leprosy or whatever. OTOH I'm not a doctor so what do I know.

Answer 5

Yes, characteristics of autism can change dramatically over time.

Typically children are more severely effected and as they grow-up they catch-up with neurotypical peers in terms of development and learn to appear more neurotypical - however going into old age many Autistic people can regress. It's also normal to see regression during times of stress, or many Autistic people will experience burnout from trying to pass as neurotypical for too long.

The right therapy can help a lot, but unfortunately many therapies are focused too much on trying to make an Autistic person like a neurotypical person so go against the individuals nature which can be harmful, some therapies are also too intense or take-up too much time so a child is overwhelmed and this can result in regression. Some therapies are also outright abusive, ABA is a popular therapy but involves training an Autistic child like a dog to be more like a neurotypical child and methods can include denying Autistic children toys, stimming, and preventing Autistic behaviour so it is damaging.

Answer 6

No,autism cannot develop later in life. Autism is a neurological difference so a person is born autistic, they cannot become autistic later in life.