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The Australian Council for Educational Research has published a groundbreaking new tool which enables children with autism spectrum disorder to be effectively diagnosed from as young as 18 months.
Research details
A team of Australian researchers, led by Flinders University psychologist Robyn Young, have developed Autism Detection in Early Childhood, a tool that enables children with autistic disorders to be diagnosed from as young as 18 months.
Once diagnosed, research has shown that children are most responsive to early intervention, particularly before the age of three. Previously, children could not be diagnosed until they were three or four.
Young's research has uncovered early symptoms of autism which can be identified by the absence of normal development; rather than having to wait for the presence of unusual behaviour, the typical indicator of an autism spectrum disorder, hence the delay in early intervention:
'Many of the classic behaviours associated with AD, such as delayed or repetitive non-communicative speech, and obsessive interests, develop or become more apparent later in life.
'Therefore, unless one is aware of when skills should develop and how they should develop; their absence may not cause concern.
'It is only when the secondary behaviours develop, and the more obvious milestones of speech and social play do not develop, that the child may receive more serious attention.'
Benefits of early intervention
The Autism Detection in Early Childhood tool describes 16 key behaviours. According to the tool, if a child does not demonstrate these behaviours between the ages of 18 months and two years, early diagnosis of autism may be possible. According to Australian Council for Educational Research estimates, early diagnosis could lead to savings in Australian health costs between $4.5–7.2 billion dollars.
Further reading
View these related items on the Early Childhood Australia website:
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