New Guidelines Created to Detect Autism in Children

Refining diagnosis and treatment for those with autism has been the main focus of an emerging body of research. Researchers are pushing for an early diagnosis of autism spectrum diseases in children, which could lead to improved results for children and their families.

New information from recent studies led the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry to modify key boundaries for evaluating and treating autism.

According to the parameters, health care providers should regularly look for evidence of autism spectrum disorder in young children undergoing developmental analysis as well as in all psychiatric evaluations.

The study, Yale Child Study Center and published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, notes that these evaluations should make distinct separations between autism and the large evaluations should differentiate between autism and the large assortment of developmental and intellectual and behavioral disabilities.

"Our goal was advocacy for individuals with autism and their families, and to ensure that services are coordinated across clinical care," said Fred Volkmar of Yale Child Study Center. "Our field is changing rapidly, and these parameters are meant to promote effective care and move professional medical methods closer to current practices."

The researchers perused abstracts from 9,481 research articles on autism that were published between 1991 and 2013 and then studied 186 of those articles, based on their quality and ability to be applied to the general public.

"Treatment should involve a team approach," said Volkmar. He also notes that under these new treatment parameters, psychiatrists will check for frequently occurring conditions and thoroughly manage and direct diagnosis and treatment with school teachers, behavioral psychologists, and speech and language pathologists.

Volkmar estimates that about 90 percent of parents of children with autism use some kind of alternative or complementary therapies. "It is important to encourage a discussion with parents about the potential harms of some of these therapies, as well as to educate them about evidence that supports what they're doing," he said.

 A crucial appendage to the new parameters is a concentrated emphasis on how clinicians should tackle the use of non-traditional therapies, like chelation and secretin. Clinicians are strongly advised to ask families if they are using alternative/complementary treatments and to discuss both its risks and potential health benefits.