Autism Vox

Complex & Essential: 2 autism subgroups

by Kristina Chew, PhD on December 19th, 2006

There is “complex autism” and there is “essential autism” according to Dr. Judith Miles, professor of pediatrics, Thompson Endowed Chair of Child Health and Pathology and director of the Medical Genetics Division at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Lidia Wasowicz in Ped Med: The many faces of autism notes these distinctions:

• Complex Autism: “20 percent of autistic children differ from the rest in both unusual physical features, such as an abnormal head size or malformed ear or hand, and autistic symptoms, which may include lower IQ, seizures or lack of speech after age 8.”
• Essential Autism: This is a “much larger set of youngsters without the corporeal differences tended to be male and have siblings with a high risk for autism and other kin with the disorder.”

Miles notes that there are both different outcomes and recurrence rates for these two autism subgroups.

I am not sure which subgroup my own Charlie would be said to fit into. He has always had a large head (macrocephaly); Miles mentions children with small heads in the article. His fingers are very long and slender (as long as his palms); again, I am not sure what constitutes “malformed.” Charlie has no siblings but there are relatives who are on the autism spectrum. I am also curious as to why Miles has chosen the terms “complex” and “essential.” I speculate: Might these terms be referring to a child who is autistic and also has symptoms of features of other disorders (such as epilepsy or apraxia), in contrast to a child who “only” has certain “essential” or “core” autistic features?

Share This

Related Stories

Another Test to Detect Autism Earlier
NYC Autism School to Be Demolished
Quote for Thought: Scientific Reductionism
The Most Complex Object in the World?
The Phi Complex: What is a “social interaction”?

POSTED IN: Diagnosis, Genetics, Health, Medicine, Neuroscience, Psychology