The discovery suggests that an effective identification earlier can result in faster and more effective treatment – ScienceDaily

There is growing evidence that ASD has its origins in prenatal life – probably during the first or second trimester of pregnancy – and that children begin to experience the symptoms of the disease on their first birthday, for example by not responding to their names or interacting positively with them. other.

Early diagnosis of ASD means earlier intervention and improved therapeutic benefit. "The sooner you can treat the problems of ASD, the better the results will be for the child," said the study's lead author, Karen Pierce, PhD, professor of neuroscience and co-director of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control. For autism from UC in San Diego. She led the study with lead author Eric Courchesne, PhD, also a professor of neuroscience.

Several studies, including research conducted by Pierce, have shown that a simple checklist of parents done at the child's first birthday can identify the symptoms of ASD. And yet, the average age of ASD diagnoses in the US, the researchers write, is "often years later, usually between three and four years."

Pierce said that the gap between the first signs of ASD and the diagnosis represented a missed opportunity, especially due to the accelerated brain development in the early years of life.

"Synaptic density or connections between prefrontal and temporal cortex neurons, brain regions centrally involved in higher order social behaviors, double between birth and age. one to two years, "said Pierce. "It is conceivable that outcomes in autistic children will improve if treatment is given during this period of rapid brain growth, rather than after," which is more often the case. "

To conduct their study, Pierce and his colleagues evaluated 1,269 young children (441 ASD, 828 non-ASD) who received their first diagnostic badessment between 12 and 36 months and at least one subsequent badessment, all by licensed psychologists. The diagnoses ranged from ASDs and their characteristics to language and developmental delays or other developmental problems.

The overall stability of the diagnosis of ASD was 0.84, higher than that of any other diagnostic group. Only 2% of young children initially considered to have ASD switched to a typical subsequent diagnosis of development. In the group diagnosed with ASD, the most common transition was observed between ASD and ASD characteristics (9%).

The diagnostic stability of ASD was lowest between 12 and 13 months, only 0.50, but increased to 0.79 in 14 months and 0.83 in 16 months. Twenty-four percent of infants were not designated ASD in their first badessments, but were subsequently identified. The most common transition in this group was an initial designation of developmental delay (25%) or language delay (16%), moving to late-onset ASD.

"Our findings suggest that a diagnosis of ASD becomes stable from 14 months and that it is overall more stable than other diagnoses, such as developmental delay or language," Pierce said.

"Once an infant is identified as an ASD, there is very little chance that he will pbad his test at typical levels at the age of three or four years. It is therefore imperative to use all effective tools as early as possible to treat children diagnosed with the benefit of them and their families in the long run. "

Co-authors of this study include: Vahid Gazestani, Elizabeth Bacon, Cynthia Carter Barnes, Debra Cha, Srinivasa Nalabolu, Linda Lopez, Adrienne Moore, Sunny Pence-Stophaeros, all at UC San Diego.