Study: Autism in children can be detected as early as age 14 months

Autism in children can be detected as early as age 14 months, a new study shows.

Autism is rarely diagnosed before a child is 3 years old. Cutting that time in half means less precious time lost in getting autistic children the treatment they urgently need -- when it's likely to do the most good.

The new finding comes from researchers including Rebecca Landa, PhD, director of the center for autism and related disorders at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. Landa tested motor, language, and visual skills in the younger siblings of autistic children. Such children are 100 times more likely to be autistic than other children.

"At 6 months of age, babies with autism were no different than anybody else," Landa tells WebMD. "By 14 months, though, kids with autism are different in both language development and motor control. They are not globally mentally retarded. Whatever is wrong with them, it influences their motor system as well as the development of their language system."
Using tests of motor and language development at age 14 months, Landa says, allowed her to predict autism in 70 percent of children ultimately diagnosed with the condition. The prediction isn't the same as a diagnosis. But it offers these children a chance for early treatment. And the earlier a child enters autism treatment, the better that child's ultimate outcome.

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For information, resources and practical strategies on autism visit:
www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com

www.AutismConcepts.com