Guest guest Posted January 4, 2008 Report Share Posted January 4, 2008 Has anyone seen the news article about the new study in Seattle? I can't believe researches are actually going back to this theory!! New Study Attempts to Prevent Autism in Infants Through Mother/Child Bonding A group of researchers at the University of Washington are about to enroll parents in a study which will attempt to prevent autism in infants. Their theory, if I understand it correctly, is that autism can be identified in children as young as six months old - and prevented through therapy aimed at improving infants' ability to relate to their mothers. According to a Newswise article: The UW & #65533;s Autism Center has begun looking for 200 Seattle-area infants, 6 months old or younger, who have an older sibling diagnosed with autism. They will be part of the first study designed to prevent autism symptoms from developing in children who are at high risk for the disorder. & #65533;This is the first trial to attempt to intervene and treat infants who are at risk for autism at the earliest time that symptoms are present, & #65533; said Annette Estes, associate director of the UW Autism Center and research assistant professor of psychiatry and behavior science, who will head clinical assessment component of the new study. & #65533;Other research has shown that the earlier the intervention the better the outcome in treating children with autism. One of our goals is to be able to identify autism as early as possible before obvious symptoms show up so we can intervene while the connections in a child & #65533;s brain are still plastic. & #65533;At the same time we will be trying to identify early risk factors for autism, something we could do if we had genetic markers. Right now we can & #65533;t reliably identify autism until about 24 months of age. We will be looking at genetics, neurobiology and a number of early behavioral measures to predict which children will develop autism, & #65533; she said. Infants selected to participate in the prevention study will be given a preliminary assessment and then will be divided into two groups. Half of the infants will be monitored by specialists and referred for community treatment. The other infants and their mothers will participate in an intervention at the UW Autism Center that promotes first relationships. Mothers will be trained to engage their infants in eye contact and each mother and child will be videotaped interacting once a week for nine weeks. All of the children in both groups will be evaluated when they are 12 months old. Those in the UW treatment group then will participate in an early intensive intervention program. At 24 months, the children will be re-evaluated to see if the intervention reduces the symptoms of autism. Another article in a Seattle paper cites autism blogger a Chew, who explains that " preventing " autism is controversial, since some people feel that autism is not a disability: " I think the general feeling is being autistic is part of being human, " said Chew, who added that treatments described appeared helpful. " If we are going to prevent autism, are we going to start preventing other differences in human beings? " a's point is well taken - one can certainly see this move as the first toward the edge of a slippery slope. But there are other issues to consider as well. For example, they seem to feel that simply connecting infants more fully to their mothers (and only their mothers) through eye gaze and other techniques can actually prevent autistic traits from forming. If their study holds water, it would suggest that autism - with all its complex uniquenesses - is really just a lack of connection with mom. This, in itself, seems like a very slippery slope indeed. It implies that, if only moms were better at connecting with their infants, those infants' brains would never have developed autistic tendencies. Do the words " refrigerator mother " ring a bell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 4, 2008 Report Share Posted January 4, 2008 Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!!!!! Where do they find these " researchers " ?!?!?!?!?!? If this is my federal tax dollars at work, I want a refund. One step forward....a MILLION steps back. By the way, maybe they haven't seen this from the ASA....it couldn't possibly be more overdue, in my opinion, but here it is: http://www.autism-society.org/site/DocServer/Human_Rights_Call.pdf? docID=7301 Sigh....I guess the " human rights of more than 15 million people worldwide " will continue to be " violated daily in countries everywhere, " including right here in the USA. --Suzanne > > Has anyone seen the news article about the new study in Seattle? I > can't believe researches are actually going back to this theory!! > > > > New Study Attempts to Prevent Autism in Infants Through Mother/Child > Bonding > A group of researchers at the University of Washington are about to > enroll parents in a study which will attempt to prevent autism in > infants. Their theory, if I understand it correctly, is that autism > can be identified in children as young as six months old - and > prevented through therapy aimed at improving infants' ability to > relate to their mothers. According to a Newswise article: > The UW & #65533;s Autism Center has begun looking for 200 Seattle- area > infants, 6 months old or younger, who have an older sibling > diagnosed with autism. They will be part of the first study designed > to prevent autism symptoms from developing in children who are at > high risk for the disorder. > & #65533;This is the first trial to attempt to intervene and treat infants > who are at risk for autism at the earliest time that symptoms are > present, & #65533; said Annette Estes, associate director of the UW Autism > Center and research assistant professor of psychiatry and behavior > science, who will head clinical assessment component of the new > study. > > & #65533;Other research has shown that the earlier the intervention the > better the outcome in treating children with autism. One of our > goals is to be able to identify autism as early as possible before > obvious symptoms show up so we can intervene while the connections > in a child & #65533;s brain are still plastic. > > & #65533;At the same time we will be trying to identify early risk factors > for autism, something we could do if we had genetic markers. Right > now we can & #65533;t reliably identify autism until about 24 months of age. > We will be looking at genetics, neurobiology and a number of early > behavioral measures to predict which children will develop autism, & #65533; > she said. > > Infants selected to participate in the prevention study will be > given a preliminary assessment and then will be divided into two > groups. Half of the infants will be monitored by specialists and > referred for community treatment. The other infants and their > mothers will participate in an intervention at the UW Autism Center > that promotes first relationships. Mothers will be trained to engage > their infants in eye contact and each mother and child will be > videotaped interacting once a week for nine weeks. > > All of the children in both groups will be evaluated when they are > 12 months old. Those in the UW treatment group then will participate > in an early intensive intervention program. At 24 months, the > children will be re-evaluated to see if the intervention reduces the > symptoms of autism. > > Another article in a Seattle paper cites autism blogger a > Chew, who explains that " preventing " autism is controversial, since > some people feel that autism is not a disability: > " I think the general feeling is being autistic is part of being > human, " said Chew, who added that treatments described appeared > helpful. " If we are going to prevent autism, are we going to start > preventing other differences in human beings? " > a's point is well taken - one can certainly see this move as > the first toward the edge of a slippery slope. But there are other > issues to consider as well. For example, they seem to feel that > simply connecting infants more fully to their mothers (and only > their mothers) through eye gaze and other techniques can actually > prevent autistic traits from forming. > > If their study holds water, it would suggest that autism - with all > its complex uniquenesses - is really just a lack of connection with > mom. This, in itself, seems like a very slippery slope indeed. It > implies that, if only moms were better at connecting with their > infants, those infants' brains would never have developed autistic > tendencies. > > Do the words " refrigerator mother " ring a bell? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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