Use of home videotapes to confirm parental reports of regression in autism.

Parents often say their child with autism lost skills. The team wanted to know if those stories match what videos show.

They watched home movies of toddlers with and without autism. Trained coders marked any loss of words, play, or social acts.

Parents and videos agreed when a child stopped talking. They did not agree on lost play or social skills.

In short, mom or dad can recall language loss, but you need video to be sure about other kinds of regression.

Prigge et al. (2013) pooled 85 studies and found one in three kids with ASD regress, mostly around 18 months. Their number relies on parent report, the same source Porter et al. (2008) now warn can miss non-language loss.

Rojahn et al. (1994) first showed birthday videos spot early autism signs with 91% accuracy. Porter et al. (2008) use the same video method, but to check parent memory instead of making a diagnosis.

Boterberg et al. (2019) later used only parent recall to link regression to later repetitive behaviors. Because Porter et al. (2008) found this recall shaky for non-language loss, Sofie’s findings may under-count kids who lost social skills yet were labeled non-regressors.

When you take a developmental history, trust parent report for lost words, but ask for home videos before you decide a child never regressed. A quick clip can change the diagnosis and your treatment plan.