title: Early Characteristics of Children with ASD Who Demonstrate Optimal Progress Between Age Two and Four.
abstract: Although for many children, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong disability, a subset of children with ASD lose their diagnosis and show typical cognitive and adaptive abilities. The ages at which this transition can occur is not known, but it sometimes occurs quite early. Participants in the current study were 207 children with an ASD at age two who were reevaluated at age four. Eighty-three percent retained an ASD diagnosis at reevaluation and 9 % showed "optimal progress": clear ASD at age two but not at age four, and average cognition, language, communication and social skills at age four. Early child-level factors predicted optimal progress: diagnosis of PDD-NOS, fewer repetitive behaviors, less severe symptomatology and stronger adaptive skills.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA. emily.moulton@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5952-6363
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moulton
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.affiliation: A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Community Health and Prevention, School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Diana L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Robins
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Danielle N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Abrams
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fein
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003142:Communication; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D066107:Social Skills
keywords: ASD; Loss of diagnosis; Optimal outcome