Doctors may be able to detect autism in infants
Categories: Health & safety, Media
It is believed that 1 in every 150 American children have autism. That, to me, is a staggering statistic. I didn't know anyone with autism growing up. I wonder if incidence is rising or we just have better diagnostic tools now.
According to a recent report, diagnostic tools just keep getting sharper as Doctors and parents become more aware of what to look for when diagnosing autism in young children. In fact, some say, parents can often see warning signs of autism as early as age two months. For example, a lack of focus on sights and sounds by an eight-week old infant could be a warning sign. A baby who hasn't exchanged smiles and sounds with parents by nine months could be predisposed to the condition. Lack of eye contact is another key sign that something might be right.
While advocates applaud early detection as a way to establish intervention and treatment early, opponents say that emphasis on infant diagnosis could just lead to panic in overzealous parents -- and that early intervention might not work anyway. Either way, I think the attention in the media is a good thing for so many parents of autistic children who, like all parents, want the best possible life for their kids.
According to a recent report, diagnostic tools just keep getting sharper as Doctors and parents become more aware of what to look for when diagnosing autism in young children. In fact, some say, parents can often see warning signs of autism as early as age two months. For example, a lack of focus on sights and sounds by an eight-week old infant could be a warning sign. A baby who hasn't exchanged smiles and sounds with parents by nine months could be predisposed to the condition. Lack of eye contact is another key sign that something might be right.
While advocates applaud early detection as a way to establish intervention and treatment early, opponents say that emphasis on infant diagnosis could just lead to panic in overzealous parents -- and that early intervention might not work anyway. Either way, I think the attention in the media is a good thing for so many parents of autistic children who, like all parents, want the best possible life for their kids.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CLM 5-15-2007 @ 5:41PM
I sometimes wonder how much of this is diagnosis creep. Could it be that the "high functioning" autistic child of today is simply the quirky kid of yesteryear? At the rate the psychiatric industry is going, there will soon be not a single person alive who qualifies as "normal".
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