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British researchers are promoting a test to help pediatricians identify autism, the earlier the better.
Currently, diagnosis in the United States doesn't occur until age 3, according to Families for Early Autism Treatment.
The British test, which was developed in 1992 and underwent large-scale testing in 1996, is called the CHAT, a Checklist for Autism in Toddlers.
The research by Simon Baron-Cohen suggests that children who failed three particular items on the test at their 18-month checkup were at "high risk of being autistic," according to a report published last year in Autism Research Review International.
Those three items are:
-- Protodeclarative pointing -- This is a child's pointing at an object to direct another person's attention to it -- not to obtain that object but to share interest in it. "Protodeclarative" refers to the child's ability to, in effect, make a statement via gesture before he or she has the verbal ability to do so.
-- Gaze monitoring -- This involves a child looking in the same direction as an adult is already looking.
-- Pretend play -- A physician might ask the parent if the child ever pretends to pour liquid out of an empty bottle, drink from an empty cup, or put a doll or stuffed animal to bed.
The checklist requires the doctor to ask a parent questions and directly observe the child's behavior.
The CHAT also asks parents:
Does your child enjoy being swung or bounced on your knee? Does your child take an interest in other children? Does your child enjoy peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek? Does your child ever use the index finger to ask for something? Can your child play properly with small toys -- cars or blocks, for example -- without just mouthing, fiddling or dropping them?
A yes answer to these questions is considered normal.
According to Baron-Cohen, pediatricians should use CHAT results not to diagnose autism, but to refer patients to an autism expert.
-- Joan Whitely
A survey of FEAT parents in California revealed five top concerns the parents had mentioned to the family pediatrician before their child was diagnosed with autism:
-- Child has no speech, or had words but stopped using them.
-- Child seems deaf.
-- Child does not make eye contact with parent or care-giver.
-- Child has odd behaviors including severe tantrums, injuring himself or fascination with doing certain specific, repetitive rituals.
-- Child ignores other children.
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