Expert: James Michael Roan - 8/22/2005

Question
Do you feel that a youngster age 6 who demonstrated several characteristics of autism as a preschooler--poor language skills, sensory issues, developmental delay,poor social-relatedness--but who now does not seem to exhibit the same characteristics (after interventions &preschool) should be labeled autistic.  At present he is stubborn and does not always want to do classwork (1st grade).  He works for rewards, he plays with others, he is affectionate, and he likes being with the other students and not singled out.  He wants to do what he wants to do.  He has a short attention span and is distractible.

I am interested in your opinion about the autism diagnosis--can an autistic person be worked with to the point the characteristics seem to disappear?

Thanks for your input.

Answer
Dear Brenda;

Absolutely! Yes, high functioning children who have had successful intervention can blend in with their nonaffected peers. The social struggles tend to continue in my experience, assuming this child was correctly diagnosed with autism. There are other conditions that can cause the characteristics that you cited, such as "white matter syndrome" and a nonverbal learning disability (NLD).

Kind Regards,
James