What is Regressive Autism?

Many of us have heard of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but what about regressive autism? According to Dr. Sid Finegold, a former professor at UCLA and leading researcher on regressive autism, "As the name suggests (regressive autism), these children develop normally up to about eighteen months of age, and then they begin to go backwards". By "going backwards" these children lose their social connections, have trouble with eye connect, and develop intestinal problems.

Although, there has been limited research on regressive autism compared to ASD research, scientists and doctors have found evidence that children who are on antibiotics at a very young age tend to be the ones that develop regressive autism because they are disrupting the normal growth of the flora developing in their gut, which can then harm the brain. The diagram to the right depicts a nice flow chart of how children develop regressive autism. Although in the first chart not all of the causes have been heavily research, they give a good idea of what some of the indicators can be.