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| Very Young Infants Show Symptoms of Autism and Demonstrate Good Response to Intervention |
| Friday, May 26, 2017 |
| 4:00 PM–7:00 PM |
| Hyatt Regency, Centennial Ballroom G |
| Area: AUT/PRA; Domain: Applied Research |
| CE Instructor: Glen O. Sallows, Ph.D. |
| TAMLYNN DIANNE GRAUPNER (Wisconsin Early Autism Project), GLEN O. SALLOWS (Wisconsin Early Autism Project) |
| Description: Forty-nine infant siblings of children with autism, and 14 typically developing infants, were observed daily. Twelve infant siblings developed symptoms of autism (24.5%) before 8 months of age, similar to earlier findings (Brian, 2014; Ozonoff, 2011). Symptom onset was first observed at 2.1 weeks of age, including loss of eye contact, loss of facial expression and affect, motor mannerisms, and unusual reactivity to normal social presses, thought to reflect aberrant brain processes (Brian, 2014; Jones & Klin, 2013; Landa, 2012). Since the brain changes in response to new experiences, and begins to function more normally through related neural growth, it may be possible to reverse early symptoms (Helt, 2008; Just, 2009; Xu, 2009; Rogers, 2008). Using ESDM, ABA or other strategies (Als, 2004), studies have found improvement in at-risk children at 18 mos. (MacDonald, 2014; Rogers, 2010) and under 12 months (Rogers, 2014). We describe symptom onset with accompanying declines in cognitive, language, motor and adaptive domains. With immediate intervention, symptoms resolved as they arose, perhaps indicating that intervention prior to one year of age may result in fewer children being diagnosed. This content has been studied according to established procedures for scientific scrutiny that can be reasonably relied upon. |
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to: (1) Identify behaviors during the first year of life that are related to later ASD diagnosis; (2) Describe strategies for ameliorating ASD symptoms during infancy; (3) Develop strategies for helping parents to restructure interactions with their infant. |
| Activities: Video training and comparison of infants to determine the presence of symptoms. Presentation of data regarding symptom onset and progress during intervention. Lecture and video describing intervention procedures. Lecture and video describing data gathering and test performance using Bayley III, Mullen, PLS-5 and Vineland II. |
| Audience: Intermediate and advanced |
| Content Area: Practice |
| Instruction Level: Intermediate |
| Keyword(s): "autism", "infant siblings", "intervention", "symptom onset" |