Children who officially lose their autism diagnosis show no residual signs of the condition, a new study suggests1. The findings support the idea that these children no longer have autism features.
“They really are indistinguishable from their typically developing peers,” says study investigator Inge-Marie Eigsti, associate professor of psychology at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. “They don’t have any [autism] symptoms at all.”
The study, published 18 August in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, is the latest effort to document the characteristics of children with a so-called ‘optimal outcome.’ These children were diagnosed with autism before age 5 but no longer meet criteria for the condition.
