A new diagnostic tool to help detect autism in young children is the focus of new research at Flinders University in Adelaide.
The new assessment tool has been designed to identify developmental and behavioural issues associated with autism in children less than 12 months old.
At present, autism is rarely diagnosed before a child is 18 months old.
"If we are able to detect signs of autism within the first year of life, parents will be able to immediately implement an early intervention plan, which has already been shown to significantly improve the prognosis of children with autism," said psychology PhD student and researcher Danielle Robson.
Ms Robson said the assessment tool included a questionnaire for parents, along with a structured play session to score the children on their responses to a number of specific tasks.
"During each session I assess a range of behaviours, including those that previous retrospective research has suggested are impaired in infants who later develop autism, such as eye contact, social and joint attention, sensory motor behaviours and temperament," she said.
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Early diagnosis is key, but
Early diagnosis is key, but how do we make these tests available to parents?
Many parents, especially first time parents, may not notice atypical behaviors at 12 months. They are still feeling out the personality of the child. At 12 months I didn't suspect a thing, though looking back all the signs are there.
I think the goal should be to get pediatricians actively questioning parents about their child's development and taking a greater interest in things like eye contact and social behavior. The pediatrician is the first stop on the way to diagnosis, and from what I can tell, is often the one who lags behind. My son's pediatrician is great, but she dropped the ball on him. He was also in a program designed to assist children whose high risk births could lead to future issues. He was visited by a nurse every month for the first two years of life and it was her responsibility to track any developmental delays. The delays were there, but the training was not. She also dropped the ball. He was two before the issues I was experiencing at home were large enough to alarm others, then it took another year for the diagnosis process to be completed. If the health professionals my son encountered early on would have been (better trained? more attentive? less complacent?) more informed then we could have started therapy earlier.
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Free Printable Activities for Children with Autism