A program of early diagnosis for autism is demo promise for creating better resultant for children with the term .
Abundant inquiry has shown that early interventioncan make a big differencefor tike with autism , but this relies on detection . In all too many vitrine shaver are not diagnosed with autism until they start schoolhouse , with the twelvemonth in which greatest dispute can be made having been suffer .
Currently the main method acting for screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder ( ASD ) is known as M - Chat . It relies on parental reports and , agree to La Trobe University ’s Dr Josephine Barbaro “ When used in low - danger , biotic community based sample has very piteous predictive time value and sensitiveness . ” Parents who are innate worriers may over - describe rare behaviors , while others will fail to notice more frequent signs .
Barbaro has found a low correlation coefficient between parental reports of early signs of autism and professional observations . Instead she is trialing the Social Attention and Communication Study ( SACS ) in which 241 Maternal and Child Health nurses have been direct to recognize signs of autism at 12 , 18 and 24 calendar month consultations . Children diagnose as “ at risk ” are trace up every six months , with the diagnosing confirmed at three years and six month .
The nurses keep picket for a entourage of behaviors include failure to make center contact , not answer to their name or pointing to objects .
In a presentation to the Amaze Victorian Autism Conference this month Barbaro presented grounds just over 1 % of kid seen by nursemaid trained for the SACS program were referred as potentially having ASD . Of these 81 % were name with ASD by specialists , an impressively gamey ratification charge per unit .
Barbaro says , “ Until we follow up all children at 3.5 year to determine how many minor with ASD that we miss , we can only estimate sensitivity based on current prevalence rates . ” However , in the visible radiation of other study show up the rate of ASD in the community as1.1 - 1.5%these event suggest that , after some modifications Barbaro made after an initial study , SACS is picking up most children with the status in the sample . A few of these are being find as early as 12 month , and most at 18 month or two years .
Children key out through the process are refereed to intervention service and rede of the success of theEarly Start Denver Modelpioneered by Professor Sally Rogers for children with autism under four .
The original Australian program is being replicated around the human race , including in China and Bangladesh .
