Infantile autism and puberty.

Doctors in Sweden watched five children with autism who had done well in grade school.

When these kids hit puberty, their old autism signs came roaring back.

The team wrote up each story to show the pattern.

Every child first gained words and play skills, then lost them around age 12.

The doctors say this group may be a special autism subtype that needs its own plan.

Mhatre et al. (2016) tracked 80 Indian children for ten years. Most kept their gains, but a few slipped back — matching the Swedish cases.

Vinen et al. (2018) saw the same bump in repetitive behaviors at school age, even after strong early ABA.

Glenn et al. (2003) looked only at two years and found little change. The short window missed the late dip that C et al. caught.

Dewinter et al. (2017) add another layer: teens with ASD face new social-sexual demands. If skills drop at puberty, those demands feel even harder.

You may have clients who sail through elementary school, then fall apart in middle school. Do not blame yourself or the parents. Schedule extra check-ins at ages 11–13. Add back visual schedules, sensory breaks, and social stories before problems show. Tell the school team to watch for sudden skill loss. Early boosters can keep the child on track.