Emerging genetic research may help scientists recognize children with autism at a younger and potentially treatable age, according to an editorial in the April issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The issue is devoted to studies of autism spectrum disorders.
Children and adults with autism, a chronic developmental disorder, have difficulty with social and language skills and often display repetitive behaviors, according to background information in the articles. Symptoms usually appear by age 3. Much progress has been made in understanding autism and related conditions' known collectively as autism spectrum disorders' in the past 15 years. Still, significant mystery continues to surround its risk factors and possible causes, presenting challenges to scientists working to develop effective treatments.
"As autism susceptibility genes are discovered, the hope is that such risk genes' in combination with other behavioral, electrophysiologic and magnetic resonance imaging indices' might allow for very early identification of infants at risk for autism, thus offering the opportunity to prevent the full-blown syndrome," writes Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., of the Autism Center at the University of Washington, Seattle. "In the meantime, behavioral interventions that are appropriate for very young children with autism are becoming increasingly sophisticated and effective, at least for a substantial subgroup of children with this disorder."
"Thus, a combination of very early identification and early behavioral intervention holds promise for significantly altering the course of brain and behavioral development and outcome in individuals with autism," she continues.