Parental report of the early development of children with regressive autism: the delays-plus-regression phenotype.
Half of kids with regressive autism already showed social delays in year one—ask parents specific early-history questions to spot this profile sooner.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Chan et al. (2005) asked parents to fill out a new form called the Early Development Questionnaire. The form asks about the first two years of life.
They looked only at kids who lost skills after a period of normal growth. This group is called regressive autism.
What they found
More than half of the parents said their babies already showed social problems in the first year. These babies did not smile, look at faces, or play peek-a-boo on time.
The team calls this mix of early delay plus later loss the delays-plus-regression phenotype.
How this fits with other research
Burrows et al. (2018) found that parent mood and child language level can sway caregiver ratings. Sally et al. did not check parent mood, so you may need to double-check their reports against video or direct test.
Barthelemy et al. (1989) showed that IQ scores stay stable from age four up. Sally’s babies had red flags before age one, so the EDQ can add detail that IQ tests cannot yet capture.
Rosenberg et al. (2010) built a different parent form, the ERQ, for four- to six-year-olds. Both papers show that well-made parent forms can give useful data, but each covers a different age window.
Why it matters
When you see a child who lost language at 18 months, ask the parents about the first six months. Use the EDQ items as a guide. If the parent recalls early social gaps, plan for a broader skill set and start social-eye-contact games right away. Early detail changes the baseline and may speed up goal selection.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Most children with autism demonstrate developmental abnormalities in their first year, whereas others display regression after mostly normal development. Few studies have examined the early development of the latter group. This study developed a retrospective measure, the Early Development Questionnaire (EDQ), to collect specific, parent-reported information about development in the first 18 months. Based on their EDQ scores, 60 children with autism between the ages of 3 and 9 were divided into three groups: an early onset group (n = 29), a definite regression group (n = 23), and a heterogeneous mixed group (n = 8). Significant differences in early social development were found between the early onset and regression groups. However, over 50 percent of the children who experienced a regression demonstrated some early social deficits during the first year of life, long before regression and the apparent onset of autism. This group, tentatively labeled 'delays-plus-regression', deserves further study.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2005 · doi:10.1177/1362361305057880