Quasi-autistic patterns following severe early global privation

Six per cent of child in a sample of III children who were adopted into U.K . families from Romania, and who were systematically assessed at the ages o f 4 and 6 years, showed autistic-like patterns of behaviour. A further 6 % showed milder (usually isolated) autistic features. Such autistic character istics were not found in a similarly studied sample of 52 children adopted in the first 6 months of life within the U.K. The children from Romania wit h autistic patterns showed clinical features closely similar to "ordinary" autism at 4 years but they differed with respect to the improvement seen by age 6 years, to an equal sex ratio, and to a normal head circumference. Th e children from Romania with autistic features tended to differ from the ot her Romanian adoptees with respect to a greater degree of cognitive impairm ent and a longer duration of severe psychological privation.