A five-minute screening test could help detect autism in babies at 12 months of age, giving parents and doctors far more time to intervene, US researchers said yesterday.
The study is the first to show that a simple screening tool could be used to detect autism in infants, said Lisa Gilotty, who heads the autism program at the National Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study.
“The benefit of this study is children get into treatment much earlier than they would otherwise,” Karen Pierce of the University of California, San Diego, whose study appears in the Journal of Pediatrics, said in a telephone interview.
Autism, a brain disorder, strikes one in 110 children in the US and affects four times as many boys as girls. The disorder is characterized by difficulties in social interaction, communication and understanding other people’s emotions and behavior.
It is usually first diagnosed in early childhood, around the age of three, and recent studies have shown that the earlier that children are diagnosed and treated, the better they do.
“There is extensive evidence that early therapy can have a positive impact on the developing brain,” Pierce said in a statement. “The opportunity to diagnose and thus begin treatment for autism around a child’s first birthday has enormous potential to change outcomes for children affected with the disorder.”
For the study, Pierce and colleagues put together a network of 137 pediatricians in the San Diego area, who systematically started screening all babies at their one-year check-up.
As part of the screening program, parents answered a survey, rating their babies on questions such as, “When your child plays with toys, does he/she look at you to see if you are watching?” or “Does your child smile or laugh while looking at you?”
Any baby who failed the screening was referred to the university’s autism center for more testing. These children were re-tested every six months until age three, when they were likely to show signs of autism.
Of the more than 10,000 infants, 184 failed the initial screening, and 75 percent of these children ended up with some problem. Of the total, 32 of the children have received an autism diagnosis, 56 had a language delay, nine were developmentally delayed and 36 were categorized as having some other issue.
After the screening program, all toddlers diagnosed with autism or developmental delay, and 89 percent of those with language delay were referred for behavioral therapy around the age 17 months. On average, these children began receiving treatment at 19 months.
“Those kids were getting treatment who otherwise may not have been seen for treatment until age three or later,” Gilotty said in a telephone interview.
Gilotty said the screening test still needs to be confirmed through other studies, but it proves that it is possible to systematically screen babies for autism in a way that does not put too much of a burden on pediatricians.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was