[The dynamics of infantile autism. The longitudinal studies]

28 children diagnosed to be autistic were involved in the longitudinal studies. The criteria were taken from DSM-III-R. 18 children in the early stage of autism were chosen. The development of disorders has been observed since the period infancy among these children. The other group consisted of 10 children in the late stage of autism. The development of autism in the group was followed by normal development of the child until the 12-18 month of life. The research was conducted in the 3rd, 5th and 7th year of life. 3 areas of developments were taken under consideration: social relations (A), verbal vs. non-verbal communication (B), activity and interests (C). In the estimated group (A, B, C) 5 criteria were achieved, each in a 5-grade scale, 1 meaning the lack of symptom and 5 meaning the higher intensity. At the age of 3 the intensity of disorders on the three evaluated areas of development did not differentiate children in early and late stage of autism. The future development of children in the early stage of autism was not successful. A visible difference was seen at the age of 5. Children in the late stage of autism developed in all 3 areas of investigation. At the age of 7, children in the late stage of autism seemed to gradually "withdraw from autism". Longitudinal studies conducted on autistic children confirmed the hypothesis about the age of child's life, when the first symptoms of disorders showed, as being an important predictor of the autism development dynamic.