Autism symptoms can appear as early as 14 months

Jul 4 2007

According to a new study autism can be spotted as early as 14 months which is much earlier than previously thought.

Autism spectrum disorders affect about one in 150 children and the disability is characterized by problems with social interaction and communication and is not usually confirmed until between 2 and 3 years of age.

Experts agree that an early diagnosis is critical, since it can lead to earlier intervention and better outcomes and this latest research reveals valuable information about the onset of autism.

The study by researchers from Baltimore's Center for Autism and Related Disorders suggests that children can exhibit signs of the disorder much earlier than previously thought and some symptoms can be evident before a child reaches their second birthday.

The researchers analysed 107 high-risk children whose siblings had autism and a control group of 18 low-risk children with no family history of autism.

They monitored the children until their third birthday and they noticed subtle signs of the disorder in children as young as 14 months old.

Dr. Rebecca Landa, a speech pathologist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and author of the study, says children with poor eye contact,who are unresponsive when people call their name, or do not initiate social interaction, suggests their communication development is quite delayed.

Dr. Landa says until now, researchers thought autism couldn't be diagnosed until about two years old but recognizing the signs of autism as early as possible is important because children who get early medical intervention tend to have better outcomes.

Early intervention can prevent certain behavioural aspects of the disorder autism becoming a major problem and can teach autistic children how to interact with people, how to play, and how to learn to learn.

Autistic children's attention often becomes over focused on things that are incidental and needs to be redirected and engaged on the matter at hand.

They also need to be taught how to pay attention to really important social signals such as people's eyes and faces.

The study is published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.