Short test may spot autism in 1-year-olds

SAN DIEGO, April 29 (UPI) -- Testing a baby's eye gaze, vocalization, gestures and other forms of age-appropriate communication may help screen for autism, U.S. researchers say.

Karen Pierce of the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues worked with 137 pediatricians in San Diego County to have the pediatricians screen all infants at their one-year, well-baby checkup, using the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile Infant-Toddler Checklist.

The brief questionnaire asks caregivers about a child's use of eye gaze and other types of communication. Any child who fails the test is referred for further testing and re-evaluated every six months until age 3, Pierce says.

Out of 10,479 infants screened, 32 were identified as having autism spectrum disorder -- consistent with current rates that would be expected at 12 months, the researchers say.

The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, finds the screen provided an accurate diagnosis 75 percent of the time and, on average, those children were referred for treatment at about age 17 months.

A 2009 study found, on average, children currently receive an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis at about age 5.7, with treatment beginning some time later, Pierce says.

Identifying autism at an early age allows children to start earlier treatment, which can greatly improve development and learning, Pierce says.