title: Infantile autism and puberty.
abstract: While the prognosis for autistic children is generally poor, some show substantial improvement during childhood. In a Swedish sample of five cases deterioration or severe symptom aggravation at the onset of puberty is described that followed earlier improvement. Autistic children with pubertal deterioration may constitute a meaningful subgroup of the syndrome. The matter deserves more attention in future follow-up studies.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D011627:Puberty; D012917:Social Adjustment