Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is known to be a developmental disorder that has grand effects on communication and behavior. People with ASD often experience these effects at different levels in terms of severity. According to the DSM-5, a manual of mental disorders, the following are experienced by people with autism: difficulty socializing and communication, repetitive behaviors and restricted interests, and symptoms affecting the person’s ability to function properly in usual settings like school and work. The TIME article, This May Be Why Autism Diagnoses Are On the Rise, According to the CDC,” highlights the high percentage of children being identified with ASD. It was reported that in 2014, approximately 1 in 59 of 8-year-old kids in the report could be identified as having autism. It is suggested that the increase may be due to the improvement of identification of the disorder in children, although there is still a lot of room for improvement. As Dr. Daisy Christensen puts it when discussing the importance of early detection of ASD. , “the soonest a child can be identified and connected to services, the better chance they have at reaching their full potential”.
Due to the large percentage of children identified with ASD, there has been an increase in research, such as Dr. Maggie Guys’ research, to improve early identification and intervention in children with autism. Dr. Guy has focused her research on 12-month-olds at risk for ASD by examining neural correlates of face processing. She questions whether there are differences in neural responses to faces for high-risk infants - such as children diagnosed with ASIBs or with fragile X syndrome, compared to infants at low-risk. As discussed in her talks, her technique involves recording event-related potentials to familiar and novel face and toy stimuli. Doing so, the amplitude of N290 was examined and results showed a higher amplitude to faces and toys. Also, compared to the typical group who had quick responses in faces, the group with ASD showed a slower response. This predicts face processing and face detection is not as automatic to them. Her research shows evidence for unique patterns of neural activation during processing across high and low risk infants within 12 months of life. Furthering her research would allow for better knowledge in regards to diagnoses, best timing and risk for intervention to take place.
Dr. Guy is not alone when proposing early intervention and identification of ASD in children to effectively assist children with the disorder. Other researchers and psychological scientists have taken the initiative to progress in early diagnosis as well. Two scientists, Warren Jones and Ami Klin, have used eye-tracking equipment to measure eye movements in babies who watched videos of an adult caregiver. Results showed that those diagnosed with autism showed a steady drop in eye fixation, starting as early as 2 months old. Upon further studying the babies, those later diagnosed with autism at 2 years-old, showed to only focus on the caregiver’s eyes for half of the time compared to those without the diagnosis of autism (control group). In result, the findings that emerged from these studies serve to lead the potentiality of learning to effectively diagnose at an earlier age, which in turn, promotes maximum interventions that leads children with ASD to effectively reach their potential.
Another research study from the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern Medical center has found a different way to enable earlier diagnosis of ASD. Instead of looking at behavioral symptoms, their research found that the levels of two proteins previously identified as potential markers for ASD could help diagnose the spectrum disorder more accurately. It was seen in their research as their diagnostic accuracy increased from a 75 percent to an 82 percent by measuring the two protein levels together.
It is seen that many scientists have taken the initiative to discover a more accurate way to diagnose ASD at an earlier age. The difficulty doing so comes from how ‘diverse’ the disorder is when trying to accurately identify biomarkers. Early diagnosing would limit the effects of ASD on children. The mentioned studies, including Dr. Guy’s research, all have different ways of studying ASD and early diagnosing. Despite this, it can be safe to say that the ultimate purpose for all is to find an accurate and effective way to diagnose ASD as early as possible in children so that effective therapy, treatments, and programs can be made and/or improve to reduce the symptoms and teach effective skills to maximize their potential.
Cited Works:
Autism Spectrum Disorder. National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved October 17, 2018 from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd/index.shtml
Ducharme, Jamie. (2018). This May Be Why Autism Diagnoses Are On the Rise, According to the CDC. TIME Health. Retrieved October 18, 2018 from http://time.com/5255729/us-autism-rates/
Guy, Richards, Tonnsen, & Roberts. (2017). Neural correlates of face processing in
etiologically-distinct 12-month-old infants at high-risk of autism spectrum disorder. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.
Researchers Make Strides in Early Diagnosis for Autism (2014, April 2). Retrieved October 17, 2018 from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/obsonline/researchers-make-strides-in-early-diagnosis-for-autism.html
UT Southwestern Medical Center. (2017, June 29). Possible early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 18, 2018 from www.scienedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170629175456.html\
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