Although most children with autism keep that diagnosis through teenage years and beyond, a new study suggests some kids might just "bloom" out of the developmental disability.
The study found about one in ten children diagnosed with severe forms of autism may shed many symptoms of the disorder by the time they turn 8.
The study, published in the April 2 issue of Pediatrics, examined the behavioral development of nearly 7,000 children with autism who were born in California between 1992 and 2001. Researchers were looking to track each child's development when it came to communication and social and repetitive behaviors until they were 14 years old.
Some children improved rapidly, especially when it came to communication and social development. But the researchers also found other children with autism developed much slower, and did not show significant improvement in these areas by the time they became teens. Most improvements in autism symptoms occurred before the child turned 6, and children's repetitive behavior trajectories appeared to remain stable across the board, the researchers said.
One finding jumped out: Almost 10 percent of kids, who the researchers called "bloomers", improved especially quickly and moved from "severely affected" to "high functioning," by age 8, as if they bloomed out of the disorder.
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