NewsHealth

Actions

New study finds early treatment showing promise in children with autism

Posted at 2:58 PM, Sep 12, 2014
and last updated 2014-09-12 20:32:45-04

New research is showing just how effective early treatment can be for children with autism.

Utah has one of the highest autism rates in the nation.

Experts say many resources are available for families with children who have autism.

However, many doctors and scientists tend to agree that a reliable autism diagnosis can't be made until the toddler is 2 years old,  when most treatment starts.

Now, new research shows that treatment starting at a much younger age is yielding promising results.

Recent studies have documented subtle signs of the autism spectrum disorder, including erratic eye motion, among infants as young as 2 months.

Other studies have shown that and other behavioral differences become more noticeable between 6 months to 1 year of age.

Researchers at UC Davis set out on a study to find if early treatment could help.

They found that guided social interaction between a mother and her baby can decrease autism symptoms by age 4.

Infants who took part in the training program also scored higher than non-participants who were later diagnosed with autism.

MORE: Find out more from the Utah Autism Coalition