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Autism Prevention Study Launched

Medscape Medical News 2008. © 2008 Medscape

January 7, 2008 — A new intervention trial, launching this week, aims to

prevent autism in the high-risk younger siblings of children with autism.

Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) Autism Center, in Seattle,

will be recruiting 200 Seattle-area infants 6 months old or younger who have

an older sibling diagnosed with autism. The hope is that early intervention

will prevent or reduce the severity of autism symptoms in these children, who

are at high risk for the disorder. While autism is estimated to affect about 1

in 150 newborns in the United States, 1 in 20 infants who have an older

sibling with autism will develop it.

" 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, " said

Annette Estes, PhD, associate director of the UW Autism Center and an assistant

professor of psychiatry and behavior science, in a press release from the

university. She will conduct the clinical-assessment component of the study.

Other research has suggested early intervention can improve outcomes for

children with autism, she noted. " 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's brain are still plastic. "

They also hope to identify early risk factors for autism that currently

cannot be identified 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, " Dr. Estes said.

Infants selected to participate in the prevention study will be given a

preliminary assessment and then randomized to 1 of 2 interventions: half will be

monitored by specialists and referred for community treatment; the mothers of

infants in the second group will participate in an intervention at the UW

Autism Center that promotes first relationships, the release notes.

Mothers of these infants will be supported in engaging with their infants

and, if infants begin to show signs of autism, will be trained to implement very

early intervention. All children will then be reevaluated at regular

intervals through 24 months of age.

Although this is one of the first trials to intervene in this way, she told

Medscape Psychiatry, " I think people in general are moving toward assessment

and intervention as soon as possible, so it's following the direction being

taken by the field as a whole. "

The $11.3-million study is funded by the National Institute of Child Health

and Development.

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