A case of infantile autism associated with Down's syndrome.

There is increasing recognition that autism is a syndrome, not a disease entity. But it is not yet clear why some children develop autistic behavior more easily than others. It has been noted that autistic symptoms occur more frequently in children with mental retardation, blindness, congenital rubella, phenylketonuria, etc., and that there are very few cases of classical infantile autism in the general population. Very rarely has autism been associated with Down's syndrome. This is a report of a case of Down's syndrome and infantile autism.