Input Needed-A 13 yr old adolescent with Autism lost all

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Your input is needed.
I work with a 13 yr old boy with autism. Within the past yr he lost the ability to go to the bathroom independently, write, speak clearly, read, sit still, and many other abilities.
The MRI and EEG results from pittsburgh, pa came back normal. They told us he would grow out of it by 18 yr old. WHAT!

Has anyone ever heard of a story like this or met anyone like this?

It is so sad and he resembles someone who has a brain injury. Yet they say it is all behavior.

Please all help is needed and welcome.

That's pretty bad.

he is diagnosed with autistic disorder-definitley not aspergers.

I used to be able to speak better as a kid than I do now (and I'm in my mid-20's). My speech started becoming less articulate around age 13 too. While my speech is still coherant, I don't speak as much nowadays unless it's absolutely important, because the wrong words always seem to come out. So I write instead.

so sorry to hear you lost your ability to speak well at 13 too.
did they say why it happened?

I still have problems with verbal communication but that was always the case. It sounds unusual and sorry I can't be of any help.

Is he on any neuroleptic (anti-psychotic) drugs? (They're often used for non-psychotic conditions.) There's a rare-ish condition called "autistic catatonia" or "autistic parkisonism- like deterioration" that can be greatly worsened by such drugs.

Other than that autisics can have regressions. I recall someone mentioning that a long time ago parents were told, "don't bother teaching him too much before adolescence, because he'll forget it all during puberty and will have to re-learn it." I don't know a lot about what is done when regression happens, though.

I used to get seizures starting in my early teens which never showed up on an MRI or EEG (I don't get them anymore). But more than anything, I just shut up because I was depressed and suicidal. I didn't have any friends when I really wanted some. I always said the wrong things at the wrong times and couldn't display my emotions right. The reason I don't speak much these days is probably due to a combination of the two things.

Yes, like other posters said, puberty might play into it, or his meds, or changes in his home environment. There is also something else that sometimes causes this. Child abuse, usually sexual, sometimes causes kids to lose their potty training and to regress in other ways, too. They may also act out more, and/or get very withdrawn.

I hope it is just something like puberty or meds. Time will fix the first, and a new prescription can fix the second. His personal environment could also improve, or at least he could grow used to the changes. But abuse is more serious, and doesn't fix even after being ended, as it has a profound and lifelong effect on a person.

so thankful to all of the posts. i will do more research on cdd and autistic catatonic .
no changes in his life.
he was on stimulants for years but had a very bad reaction this past year.
he is now on zyprexa and depakote...very zombie like and won't stop walking.

It happens, and it's a known phenomenon.

Around adolescence/early adulthood, people with autism can go back to how they were as young children in regards to symptoms, after they improved. It tends to improve later on in life, going back to the symptoms of when they improved after early childhood. This is midlife though.

Nothing you can do.