Thread: Simple checklist may spot signs of autism by age 1

Lauran Neergaard, Ap Medical Writer – Thu Apr 28, 9:38 am ET

WASHINGTON – A simple checklist that parents fill out in the waiting room may help doctors someday screen for warning signs of autism as early as a baby's first birthday.

San Diego pediatricians tested the tool with more than 10,000 babies at their 1-year checkups, looking for such things as how the tots babble, gesture and interact with others.

The research, being published Thursday, is a first step in the quest for earlier autism screening. It's not ready for routine use, as more work is needed to verify its accuracy. But it also may prove valuable in finding more at-risk babies to study what causes the developmental disorder. "There are subtle signs of autism at one year if you just look for them," said neuroscientist Karen Pierce of the University of California, San Diego, who led the study. "Let's just get these kids detected early and treated early."

Recent data suggest about 1 in 100 U.S. children has some form of autism, which ranges from mild to severe problems with behavior, communication and socialization. The American Academy of Pediatrics already urges autism screening during regular doctor visits at ages 18 months and 24 months. Yet a 2009 study found that on average, children aren't diagnosed until they're 5.

Experts say early therapy can lessen autism's severity, even if they don't know exactly what types will prove best. "The earlier you start, the better," said Dr. Lisa Gilotty of the National Institute of Mental Health, which helped fund the study.

Hence the interest in younger screening.

"This is very exciting work, to think we may be able to identify children with autism this early," said Dr. Susan Hyman of the University of Rochester and a pediatrics academy autism specialist, who wasn't involved in the new study.

But, she cautioned, it's not clear how best to do that: "I don't think screening for autism at 12 months is ready for prime time."

Thursday's study uses a 24-question checklist written in easy-to-understand terms that parents can answer in about five minutes. It was developed a few years ago to detect broader signs of language or developmental delays. Pierce signed up 137 pediatricians to use the questionnaire during every 1-year checkup and refer babies who failed for further testing. Those youngsters were re-evaluated every six months to age 3, when a diagnosis could be certain.

Of 10,479 babies screened, 184 who were sent for further testing followed through — and 32 eventually were diagnosed with autism, Pierce reported Thursday in the Journal of Pediatrics.

That's consistent with expected rates of detection that young; Rochester's Hyman said some forms of autism don't become apparent until age 2 or even later.

Numerous other children were diagnosed with language delay or some other developmental problems, so that in the end, the screening accurately predicted some problem in 75 percent of those kids, Pierce calculated. But there were false alarms for 1 in 4, who had no problems.

The children began treatment at around 19 months. In addition, Pierce's program does MRI scans and other tests as part of broader research into autism's biological underpinnings, studies now limited by the few numbers of babies being identified as at risk when they're so young.

One big puzzle: Only a fraction of the total 1,318 babies who failed the initial screening were referred for follow-up. The study couldn't tell how much of that gap was recording error, or if doctors or parents weren't worried enough to follow up right away, or if families went elsewhere.

Still, the study shows early screening is feasible in the hectic everyday offices of regular pediatricians. That's important as scientists now develop various screening tests, said Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of Autism Speaks, which co-funded the work.

Pierce says other cities should consider the screening — but doctors first must know where to send families for follow-up testing. That can cost several thousand dollars, and state programs for free evaluation of at-risk children may have waiting lists.

For now, what should worry parents? Pierce's top concerns:

_ Lack of what she calls "shared attention." Around age 1, babies should try to "pull your attention into their world," pointing to a bird and watching to see if you look, for example, or bringing you a toy, she said.

_ Lack of shared enjoyment, where a baby may smile at mom but not engage if other people try peek-a-boo.

_ Repetitive behaviors like spinning a car wheel rather than playing with the toy.

Language delays are worrisome if they accompany other problem signs, she said: "If they wave and they point, that's a good sign the brain is readying itself to be ready to speak."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110428/...tism_screening


My niece is severely autistic - we detected signs as early as 6 months and tried to bring it to the doctors attention. We were told "you can't tell that early". I beg to differ.

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My son has these signs early on in his life and he is 13 now. He was not diagnosed until age 7 and it has been a very hard road. If doctors would listened to me at this time, his life may had turned out differently. I am so glad that have this tool that might save another family going through the living hell of getting a diagnosis.

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As a parent to an autistic child who is now an adult, I find that this news reinforces what I believed when he was an infant. The so-called specialists claimed that autism could not be detected at such a young age, but I knew that was the right diagnosis years before it became official.

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I knew a child was ' not okay ' at 3 months old. the mom had 3 month old in arms all the time, such a quite cuddly baby, never ever squirmed, -- baby liked being held -- never squirmed -- never - never moved head, never moved eyes away from anything -- never moved eyes to look at people or at anything, the mom fed baby bottles, baby never made any noises, no crys no noises at all--this was over 2 hours -- all 3 month old should squirm if you hold them too much, all should try to move there eyes around to follow people of objects, should move head around, should make noises, should cry, 3 month old make some noises -- utterances over a 2 hour time period. i knew something was wrong and today baby does "officially" have autism.

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My 2 year old has all of these signs and I had her tested and they said that she is "slow" but they cannot diagnose a child as Autistic until they are school age. I don't understand why you would want to wait until a child is 5 to diagnose them as Autistic when you can get a child help early it couuld help them. I have 4 kids and she is very different from the rest of my kids. she doesn't engage with me like hug me unless it's her idea which is not very often at all and she looks like she is in her own world when you try to talk to her she won't respond until she is ready. she will be 3 in October and she is just now learning simple words like bye and thank you.

Family in shock after receiving letter targeting autistic son
Posted: Aug 19, 2013 4:14 PM CDT ~ By Donna Wallace-King

http://raycomgroup.images.worldnow.c...175761_BG1.jpg

NEWCASTLE, ON (RNN) – A Canadian family with an autistic child received a disturbing letter from an anonymous neighbor on Friday.

The neighbor, who called herself "one pissed off mother," wrote an offensive tirade against the parents whose teenaged child suffers from severe autism. The neighbor claimed that Karla Begley's 13-year-old son, Max, is a "nuisance and a problem…with that noise polluting whaling [sic] he constantly makes!!!" The neighbor also goes on to call the boy an "idiot", "retarded" and a "wild animal kid," and suggests they should euthanize the boy.

Max was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 years old.

When neighbors found out about the letter, many came out in support of Max and his family. They hope to find out who wrote the letter. Police now have the letter and the Begley family plans to press charges if a suspect is identified.

http://www.wafb.com/story/23175761/f...edium=facebook

Body Of Doctor Who Linked Vaccines To Autism, Found Floating In River

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Carol Adl

http://yournewswire.com/body-of-doct...ting-in-river/



Published on Jun 25, 2015



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf6-yj5x_tM

Famous Autism researcher and Doctor, Jeff Bradstreet MD died of alleged "Self Inflicted gunshot wound to the chest" and his body found floating in the river http://www.paulbegleyprophecy.com also http://govtslaves.info/famous-autism-... also https://www.facebook.com/paul.begley....

3rd “Alternative” Prominent Doctor From Florida Found Dead in 2 weeks.
Authorities say MD was murdered.
July 1, 2015 by Erin Elizabeth

This has been a tragic few weeks of reporting. My heart goes out to family and friends of all 3 doctors who were found dead these past few weeks.

Less than 2 weeks ago the first doctor, a controversial Autism researcher loved by his patients, Dr. Jeff Bradstreet MD, was found in a river with a gunshot wound to his chest. He leaves behind a beautiful wife and children. His friends and family started a memorial page on June 20th in his honor on Facebook. I waited 3 days after that to report the story out of respect. A few still write that I shouldn’t cover these stories, but I am a journalist, and as I’ve repeatedly said, it brought me no joy to report the news. I waited until all were covered by mainstream news and or funeral sites. Dr. Bradstreet had lived just 45 minutes from us here in Florida before moving to the neighboring state of Georgia. I also have been with a prominent well known doctor for the last 6 years so this concerns me. Several high profile MD’s have contacted me these last 2 weeks who are also concerned and mourn the loss of their colleagues.

The second doctor is Dr. Bruce Hedendal DC PhD of Boca Roton area (E Coast, North of Miami) who died suddenly on Father’s day. Sources tell me that he was found in his car and had died but the car, but there was no car accident they say. He was just in his car. Deceased. He had exercised earlier in at an event, but we don’t want to speculate. He also leaves behind a beautiful family. As of yet I do not know if it was natural causes or not that took his life. In addition to being a DC, he held a PhD in nutrition from Harvard. A friend who worked with him said he was in great shape and described him as “very healthy”. They too didn’t know the cause of death and were still in shock. Not sure if anyone knows the cause of death at this point.

Both Dr Hedendal and Dr. Bradstreet had dealt with run ins with the feds in the past. In fact, Dr. Bradstreet’s office was just raided by the FDA days before he died. We know they will both be missed by countless patients, family and friends.

Now we have the attractive intelligent Teresa Ann Sievers MD, also here in Florida. She was in the Naples area in the South West coast of the sunshine state. Her bio on her website describes many accomplishments and degrees as a medical doctor who believed in a holistic alternative approach. She lived in a safe upscale area where neighbors said they rarely, if ever had problems. I had actually just been in that neighborhood last month and it’s a beautiful area. UPDATE: This new video about Dr. Siever’s death on CBS News talks about a donation site set up through CBS’s official website for those who wish to do so. http://www.winknews.com/2015/07/01/n...eresa-sievers/


We are heartbroken to report all 3 deaths, and have more doctors contacting us who are concerned about this sequence of tragic events. They are also concerned – as my significant other is a prominent doctor who resides in Florida.

From the breaking news article about Dr Siever’s death:

The killing of a popular Estero doctor has left family and friends puzzled and saddened.

The body of Dr. Teresa Ann Sievers, 46, was found Monday morning at her Jarvis Road home after she didn’t arrive at work. “We don’t know anything but that she was murdered,” said Sievers’ sister, Annie Lisa, 52. She said Sievers, her husband and children had come to Connecticut for a gathering and her sister flew home alone Sunday.

We cannot imagine what the family is going through at this time. The article goes on to say.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office declined to discuss the case, saying it was an ongoing homicide investigation, but assured neighbors that there was no threat in the area, but they reminded residents to lock their doors.

Sadly Dr. Sievers leaves behind a husband Mark, and their two daughters who are 8 and 10. We will update the article as we know more here in Florida. I was just in Bonita Springs visiting the neighborhood where Dr. Sievers lived. I met so many people in the holistic and medical community.

Another article talks of a reward at the bottom of the piece. It provides a phone number where you can call in anonymous tips as well. If you know information pertaining to the death of Dr. Sievers MD or any information or tips, please call. http://www.nbc-2.com/story/29435156/...s#.VZQ5yBNViko

Again we’ll report as more info becomes available and ask that everyone stay safe and alert. We send or condolences and thoughts to all family friends and patients of all three wonderful doctors.

http://www.healthnutnews.com/3rd-alt...-was-murdered/