Intervening Before 18 Months May Reduce Odds of Autism Diagnosis in Babies Identified at High Risk

A program that teaches parents how to engage with babies identified to be at high risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may reduce the likelihood of the children ’s developing the disorder. This finding comes from astudy published today inJAMA Pediatrics.“Autism spectrum disorder is emergent in early development but is not typically diagnosed until age 3 years,” wrote Andrew J. O. Whitehouse, Ph.D., of the University of Western Australia in Nedlands and colleagues. “[I]nterventions beginning during the first 2 years of life, when the first sig ns of atypical development are observed and the brain is rapidly developing, may lead to an even greater impact on developmental outcomes in later childhood.”The intervention tested was called iBASIS –Video Interaction to Promote Positive Parenting (iBASIS-VIPP); this approach uses video of family interactions to help caregivers build up their babies’ social engagement and interaction abilities. The intervention is delivered in family homes by a trained therapist in 10 sessions over five mon ths.Whitehouse and colleagues recruited families of babies aged 9 to 15 months old showing behaviors associated with ASD, as measured by the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance –Revised (SACS-R) 12-month checklist. Babies were considered at risk of ASD if they displayed atypical behaviors in three of five domains: spontaneous eye contact, protodeclarative pointing (pointing to indicate item of interest), social gestures,...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: autism Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule DSM-5 iBASIS –Video Interaction to Promote Positive Parenting JAMA Pediatrics prevention Source Type: research