Identifying Autism in Babies

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

21 Jan 2009 12:14 PM

Numerous studies have shown that early intervention is key to getting a better outcome with autism-related therapies. Efforts are being made by physicians and teachers to identify autism in children as young as preschool age, but some experts say this still isn't enough. Being able to identify babies under the age of three or four is the goal of some researchers. The average age of a diagnosis of autism is at almost four years old.

Sage Publications and The National Autistic Society recently published a report on clinical assessment of autism in high-risk babies 18-months of age. A baby is consider high risk for autism if a sibling has been diagnosed (siblings of autistic children have a much greater risk of being autistic than does the general population. In the United States, the average age of diagnosis is even higher, at up to 5.5 years old.

The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that all children be screened for autism at both 18 and 24 months of age.

Identifying autism or the risk for autism in babies is still very difficult. There are a wide variety of signs of early autism, and these signs may present at different times or may appear and then disappear and then appear once again. Also, since babies are babies, it is often hard to do any testing on the very young because their brains haven't reached certain normal developmental stages anyway.

While there are standards of screening in place, doing a true assessment of possible autism risk has a lot to do with in-depth parental interviews. Parents know their children best and can be the most valuable source for assessment.

So what will be coming in the future for identifying autism in babies? Some studies are being done on 12 month olds that has shown some promise.

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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