W. David Lohr, MD
An eye-catching headline recently appeared in The New York Times: “Some With Autism Diagnosis Can Overcome Symptoms, Study Finds.” The basis for the article was a recent study by Deborah Fein at the University of Connecticut that evaluated 34 people diagnosed with autism before the age of 5 years who no longer met the criteria. This group did not differ from matched typically developed controls on measures of socialization, communication, facial recognition abilities and most measures of language. The group with optimal outcome was also compared with a higher-functioning group of patients with autism so that some early clues for prognosis can be considered.