[The outcome of pervasive development disorders after the adolescence]

Abstract

Until the end of the 20th century, the medical literature was very pessimistic concerning the clinical and natural course of autistic spectrum disorders from childhood to adulthood. Fortunately, during the last decade, we met dramatic turnovers in the domain of pervasive developmental disorders, especially in terms of prevalence (now estimated at about 1 % of the population). Besides, for the first time, we are now able to build a strong link between recent genetic discoveries, the neurophysiopathology of autism and new subsequent therapeutic tools.