Autism Symptoms and Signs Autism is a condition surrounded by myth and generalizations about people with autism that are rarely appropriate. The common beliefs that people with autism never express emotion, never smile or laugh, never make eye contact, never talk, and never display affection are simply that - myths. Just as every person is unique, with his or her own personality and characteristics, every person with autism manifests the disorder in his or her unique way. The list of symptoms and behaviors associated with autism is long, and each affected person expresses his or her own combination of these behaviors. None of these clinical features is common to all people with autism, and many are occasionally exhibited by people who are not autistic. That said, however, all people with autism have abnormal functioning in three core areas of development: social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and the presence of repetitive and restricted patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. The diagnosis of autism is typically made when impairment is significant in all three areas, with impairments in social interaction and communication being one rather than two categories of impairment according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth … Continue reading →

When it comes to autism, diagnostic speed is key. Treatments for the condition rely on early intervention therapies and the sooner in the life of a child with autism they begin, the better. This week a new study published in the journal Pediatrics has shown that a revised Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers is now more accurate that previous versions. The checklist is a screening tool used to diagnose autism in children as young as 16 months old. The test evaluates children and ranks them in three risk categories, with the highest category meaning follow-up evaluations for autism. Earlier tools cast a wider net, but these refinements will allow health care providers to focus energy where it is needed most and will reduce the number of families who go through additional testing but which ultimately do not need treatment interventions, said Deborah Fein, senior author of the study and a researcher at the University of Connecticut. The study found that the revised checklist caught more cases of autism than older versions of the test. At the same time, the new checklist classified fewer children in the medium or high risk categories, meaning that the newer test is more accurate … Continue reading →

Washington, DC - infoZine - The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers -- Revised, with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F) -- is a free, two-step screening tool used to detect children likely to have autism. It is intended for use at regular well-child checkups for children 16 to 30 months old. With the M-CHAT-R/F, health care providers can classify a child's risk of having autism as low, medium or high, on the basis of parents' answers to 20 questions. "This checklist can more accurately identify children likely to have autism so they can get the treatment and support they need," said Alice Kau, Ph.D., of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the NIH institute that funded the study. "Given that the typical autism diagnosis occurs at age 4, it also offers the possibility of detecting autism much earlier -- during regular doctor's visits when a child is 18 months or 2 years old. And earlier intervention has been shown to improve outcomes for children with autism." Based on the M-CHAT-R/F classifications, the researchers found that a smaller proportion of children received a medium- or high-risk assessment (7 percent) than with earlier versions of the checklist (9 … Continue reading →

December 26, 2013 redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online A previously undetected genetic risk factor could help explain why there is an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes among Mexican and other Latin American populations, according to a new study published online Wednesday in the journal Nature. In the study, an international team of researchers known as the SIGMA (Slim Initiative in Genomic Medicine for the Americas) Type 2 Diabetes Consortium performed the largest genetic study to date in people of Mexican and Mexican-American descent. They discovered that people who had the higher-risk version of the gene SLC16A11 could be 25 percent more likely to have diabetes than those lacking said gene. Furthermore, individuals who inherit copies from both patents are 50 percent more likely to have diabetes. The higher-risk version has been found in up to half of people with recent Native American ancestry (including Latin Americans) as well as 20 percent of East Asians, and elevated frequency of SLC16A11 in Latin American could account for up to one-fifth of the populations increased prevalence of diabetes, the authors explained. To date, genetic studies have largely used samples from people of European or Asian ancestry, which makes it … Continue reading →