News can serve as a forum that will better serve the public. To improve developmental outcomes, new guidelines urge parents and pediatricians to look out for signs of autism in children as early as infancy. Autism is a childhood disorder affecting 1 in 500 children. It affects brain function in the areas of social interaction and communication and often remains unrecognized and undiagnosed until or after late preschool age because appropriate tools for routine developmental screening specifically for autism have not been available.
Autistic children are often unresponsive and have difficulty communicating with the outside world.
Some show self-destructive behavior, while others may repeat body movements such as rocking back and forth, and arm flapping. Early identification of autism and intensive intervention during the preschool years improves outcome for most young children with autism, study authors said. Clinically identifying children with autism requires two levels of investigation, according to the guidelines' authors. First, routine screening is recommended to identify early symptoms of autism. Second, the authors recommend diagnosis and evaluation to differentiate autism from other developmental disorders associated with impaired cognitive and neurobehavioral disorders.