Past research has indicated that normally developing children as young as 6 months old show different brain activity when they see their mother and when they see a stranger. All three groups had similar reactions when they saw images of a favorite toy versus an unfamiliar one, however. Dawson believes the ability to recognize faces could really be a key tool in identifying children with autism. Dawson's past research has shown that a child's failure to look at faces at age 1 is the best predictor of autism. What usually catches parents' attention around 12 months is that their child is not picking up language.
Parents are also especially sensitive to picking up autism symptoms in a younger sibling.
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development funded the research. Dawson and UW doctoral student James McPartland will also report at the Minneapolis meeting related research that shows adults and adolescents with autism have abnormal reactions to faces. The Autism Center is part of the UW's Center on Human Development and Disability. Dawson and an interdisciplinary team are working together to try to find the neurobiological and genetic causes of autism and design interventions to help autistic children. Past Weeks' News Archives - Archives of past weeks' Daily Selected News Stories.