Is Cognitive Regression Common in AS?

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My 15 year old son was diagnosed with Aspergers when he was about 11. At that time he had high verbal test scores on the annual standardized tests administered in his school district, and his math scores were average/proficient. Now he has no interest in reading or homework, and his test scores have slipped to barely average in verbaland below average in math. What bothers me the most is that the math test that he took as a 15 year old has the same kind of Algebra problems as the test he took 4 years ago in middle school. His teachers have noticed that he can barely do the math now, even the most basic problems involving isolating variables. In other areas of his life,like his complex computer games, however, he doesn't seem to be having any cognitive issues at all. I'm worried that this is a sign of schizophrenia. Does this loss of cognitive ability happen with AS teens?

This sounds like a disinterest in school subjects, not cognitive problems in general.

That or burnout.

There are cases where autistic people lose skills; but these cases are rare, and usually diagnosed as "childhood disintegrative disorder". Having this happen at fifteen would not be impossible, but still be very rare indeed--"write this case up for the journals" rare.

I would look at your son's school environment. Is it overly stressful for him? Are people bullying him? Are his classes becoming difficult because they're demanding some skill which he's not particularly good at? Are the teachers communicating with him effectively?

Have you talked to him about this? What are his experiences? What does he think of school, and how people are treating him there?

Depression will do that to a person, too. If he's depressed, then being unable to focus on things and achieve in school is to be expected--and teenagers are especially vulnerable to depression, especially Aspie teens, especially Aspie teens starting high school and having to face the wolf packs that run there for the first time.

There is often this impulse, when someone has a disability, to assume that any problem he has must be due to that disability. But your son is, as you know, a complex person for whom AS is just one facet of his life. There are many things that can cause problems in school, both for AS kids and for typical kids. Look into those before you worry about regression or schizophrenia; they are just so much more likely.

Well I am 22 and have the math skills of a 5th grader though I imagine there are 5th graders who are better at math than me. I know I did not really have a lot of problems with math during elementary school, but once I started 6th grade I started noticing it was really difficult for me but I somehow managed to struggle through math getting passing grades.....and I tried getting help from teachers and stuff but I still never really caught on. I can do math alright if I have the directions of how to do the problem written down and have it explained to me one on one but I don't seem to retain the knowledge enough to continously do math without specific instructions.

So maybe he has an issue like that with math...not being able to retain the information well enough to do the problems correctly. Also Its possible he dislikes math and has less motivation for it as well........Not sure about the reading and verbal stuff you mentioned, though.

I've seen that happen in typical teens, where the child is doing OK at age 11, then when he/she reaches his/her teens, his/her grades slip a bit. This is because ages between 11 and 15 are very difficult ages for all children, because their bodies and minds are changing from a child to an adult, and so they're kind of in between and so will be changing all the time. My 14-year-old cousin is NT, but he seems a completely different boy from when he was 12. He used to be good at drawing, and got A's in art at school, but now he doesn't seem to have an interest in art at all.

But, there may be a difference, since a lot of NT teens give up their academic skills to be more ''part of the crowd'', and they get to a silly age where having friends and fitting in is more important than anything else in the world, including their important GCSE grades. So I'm not sure with an Aspie teen then, unless your son wants to fit in too. If not, then I don't know. Maybe he is just changing, don't forget puberty affects Aspie teens aswell. Well, it did me.

Because of this, I'm willing to bet that your son is just lazy. Which means he is in the same category as 80% of teens in America. It's not that he can't do algebra anymore, it's that he doesn't want to, or doesn't have it highly prioritized.

I was always very proficient at Maths and English in school up until about 14 then I lost interest in school completely. I left school at 16 without passing exams. Ten years later I was in my first year at Uni doing computing. At age 30 I graduated with a 2:1 honours in computing and have worked for ten years in the profession as software developer/analyst.

I would not worry too much, he could be going through a phase like all teenagers. If he is AS it is likely his intelligence has gone beyond those of his peers and he is bored at school.

Well even if you're not too concerned with being part of the crowd it can make you feel pretty bad when you know most people at your school don't really like you.......and you would like to have friends if you could but know you probably wont. I know that is partially why sometimes I slacked on my homework and school assignments because I felt lonely and depressed which kind of reduces motivation to do a lot.

Yeah,thanks for the feedback. Some high school psychologists planted the "maybe it's schizophrenia" seed last year when he was tested for an IEP, and now I can't shake it. The school psychologists at his high school are a big pain because they keep questioning his AS diagnosis, as if we're using it as an excuse or something. They say things like "well, he doesn't seem autistic because he made eye contact with me during the interview"! !! He's taking anxiety meds for school anxiety and OCD which aren't working (Celexa) but he has seemed depressed too. .

Yeah, that did actually affect me and caused me depression when I was aged 12-14. I started to realise that I was rather uncool in school and out in the street, which friends pointed out. I did learn how to be more cool, but I wonder if it's actually made me feel more self-conscious now as a grown-up, because I have developed a fear of acting uncool.

Well just a thought but if one does not have much of a social life computer games are probably something they do for fun, rather then going out and hanging out with friends so its usually better not to assume its laziness in these kinds of situations until everything else has been ruled out. Another thing that you would need more information about to make that assumption would be how much time he spends on the computer games and if it interferes with responsibilities in a noticeable way.

Is his special interest computer games? Maybe his special interest has taken over his mind, and he can't think about anything other than it?

Well is he aware that is what they are saying about him...that is probably a big stressor if he is so he could be feeling overwhelmed as well. It's never fun to know people are talking about how 'messed up' they think you are to your face and behind your back. I know this might sound extreme but have you thought of changing schools?

I always tend to minimize the importance of this. Thank you for reminding me. He is also about 100 pounds overweight, so he is used to feeling marginalized. He said something really interesting to me a couple of days ago--"I'm not the person I wanted to be" after looking at himself in the mirror. Heart-breaking.

''I'm not the person I wanted to be''. That's what I say every day.

OK, computer games are definitely his one special interest. He also gets on the computer because he uses ventrilo to talk to friends who play the games (mostly WoW) with him. They have become his main friends. Listening to him talk to these people, he sounds so smart and self-confident, so different from the kid who goes to school. And yeah, I already know how addictive WoW can be. He also spends a lot of time watching Katers Capers on Youtube--I think he has a crush on her.

And yes, we are trying to get him transferred to another public school. There is a small alternative school I am trying to transfer him to, we'll see if it works out. I just hope he doesn't have to take any academic assessments, as they will see how low his math performance has become. The high school in our town is hideously big--there are 3,000+ students. We can't afford a private school.