Is it Possible to Outgrow Autism?
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Q. My son is fourteen years old and we’ve had a challenging time with him throughout his childhood, but his transformation since has been remarkable. At three, his preschool teacher suggested that we get him checked for autism. He wasn’t looking her in the eyes when he spoke, was impulsive, and couldn’t sit still, and he had motor and speech delays. We brought him to a neurologist, and it was too soon
to diagnose him for ASD, so she suggested that he get help in the areas where he needed it the most without the formal diagnosis.
We tirelessly spent our evenings driving all over the DC area and exhausted our finances to get him the help he needed, including play therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, and taking adaptive Tae Kwon Do and adaptive swimming. The therapies lasted for 8 years and by the time he was 11, he improved greatly in all areas. He graduated from his various therapies and began maturing and
excelling in school. In junior high school, he worked very hard academically and moved from smaller classes to team taught ones. He still had some learning difficulties, but they were far less severe than they used to be, and he made honor roll three times. When he was finishing up his last year of middle school, he was 6’1 and recruited to play basketball for a local league. He was social and had lots of friends, and girls liked him. He spoke a lot about his own interests, but in many ways, he
outgrew whatever it was he had, whether it was autism or not.
I remember the day his fourth-grade teacher told me “there is no hope for him.” If they were to tell me ten years ago or even five years ago that my son would be “okay,” I would have never believed them.
My friend’s son, on the other hand, had a lot of the same symptoms as my son, but didn’t get the help he needed early on because he was diagnosed when he was in junior high. He is socially withdrawn and still needs a lot of assistance. Is it too late for him? Is it too late for someone like Amy Schumer’s husband, who found out that he has autism as an adult? Maybe my son was a fluke or never had autism
at all. But, I’m wondering, to your knowledge, can someone outgrow autism spectrum disorder?
Critter Corner: What Happens When a Person with Autism Becomes an Adult?
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My niece, Amelia, has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but is high-functioning. What happens to most children with ASD when they transition to adulthood?
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