Signs of Autism in Infants – Parents See Signs Long Before Professionals

Signs of Autism in Infants – Parents See Signs Long Before Professionals: Parents notice signs of autism spectrum disorders in infants as early as 6 months of age, but diagnosis of children with autism spectrum disorders is generally not until the age 3 or 4 years.

Parents notice signs of autism spectrum disorders in infants as early as 6 months of age, but diagnosis of children with autism spectrum disorders is generally not until the age 3 or 4 years.

According to researchers at the Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, in the United States, most children with autism spectrum disorders were diagnosed at age 3 or later. The average age of autism diagnosis was 4 years and 10 months.

Research in the United States found that parents noticed symptoms of autism as early as 6 months of age, but diagnosis was not until age 3 or 4 years. (Nova Biomedical Books 2004:103-123).

A study in the United Kingdom found that the average age of diagnosis of a child with autism spectrum disorder was 6 years, even though most families felt that something was wrong with their child at 18 months and sought medical attention when their child was 2 years old. (Neurology 2000, 55:468-479).

Others have found that the average delay between when a parent first seeks help and the time of autism diagnosis is 4 years. (Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 1999, 41:834-839 and Autism 1997, 1:135-162).

It has been suggested that parents are often correct about concerns with their child’s development and symptoms of autism can frequently be seen before 12 months of age. So, it is significant that families are often aware of atypical development long before a diagnosis is established.

Paediatricians and family practitioners are usually the first healthcare providers that a family contacts for children under 5 years old, which is the critical age for a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders.

Some possible reasons for a delay in diagnosis are that professionals may be concerned about the strong emotional reaction of parents when they are told that their child has autism, fear of negative consequences from labelling the child, and hope that the symptoms will reverse.

Furthermore, some medical providers in Queensland believe they have less adequate training than needed for assessing autism spectrum disorders. (Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2005, 41:413-419).

Another problem that can arise in the diagnostic process involves providing caregivers with accurate information about autism spectrum disorders and related treatment options at the time of diagnosis.

A study in France found when parents express concerns about autism spectrum disorders to paediatricians, the paediatricians often trivialized the disorders because of lack of knowledge about them. (Educational Psychology in Practice 1998, 14:109-117).

Other research indicated that 4th year medical students performed poorly on questions in a survey about the causation, IQ profiles, prognosis and treatment of autism. (Autism 2001, 5:127-133).

The authors of this study (see reference below) concluded:

In sum, we found that 1) most children with autism spectrum disorders were diagnosed at age 3 or later, 2) a substantial minority of diagnosing professionals (18%) provided no further information about autism spectrum disorders, and 3) caregivers reported turning to the media, conferences, or other parents to learn more about autism spectrum disorders.

We found that developmental paediatricians were most likely to diagnose at earlier ages and provide families with additional information, and that Autism was associated with earlier diagnoses than other autism spectrum disorders.

Our findings suggest, but do not prove, that paediatricians with specialized training make earlier diagnoses and are more likely to provide additional information to caregivers.

Reference:

Extracted and adapted from:

Rachel A Rhoades, Angela Scarpa, Brenda Salley. The importance of physician knowledge of autism spectrum disorder: results of a parent survey. BMC Pediatrics 2007, 7:37 doi:10.1186/1471-2431-7-37.
© 2007 Rhoades et al., licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)