Clinical characteristics of mild autism in adults

GLANCE AT the history of medicine reveals that the most serious forms of major diseases are usually described first. These “classic cases” form the templates by which diagnosticians initially evaluated their patients; so it has been with autism. Kanner’s’ classic cases provided templates for the National Society for Autistic Children (NSAC),’ DSM-III, and DSM-III-R definitions of autism. Because they were based on severe cases, they included the onset of observable symptoms before age 30 months (NSAC and DSM-III) and during early childhood (DSM-III-R) as a diagnostic criteria. This ensured, by definition, that only cases with symptoms severe enough to be noted during infancy or early childhood would be diagnosed. The diagnostic dilemma posed by patients with only a few, mild- or late-appearing symptoms is exemplified by the current resurgence of interest in Asperger’s syndrome and siblings of autistic patients who are labeled as having cognitive/social dysfunction, severe social dysfunction and isolation, cognitive dysfunction, and pervasive developmental disability NOS (PDD-NOS, DSM).‘-lx Whether these patients have mild autism or a separate disease is being studied throughout the world. Pending the dis