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Having a child diagnosed with autism is confusing and stressful, as parents struggle to communicate with their child, navigate the complex landscape of social and educational interventions, and worry about the long-term outcomes for their child. A common saying is that there are no two children with autism who are exactly alike. “Children with autism vary from one another, and that’s what creates this amazing spectrum that we often are puzzled about and try to understand,” says Katarzyna Chawarska, PhD, director of the Social and Affective Neuroscience of Autism Program at the Child Study Center. But one thing children with autism do have in common is that early intervention is crucial to their development. As infants and toddlers, the brain is incredibly adaptable and responsive to therapies that focus on building a child’s social engagement and language skills. Kelly Powell, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Child Study Center explains what the experience is like for the child: “A toddler who’s presenting in our research program or our clinic, it’s almost like being in an environment where you’re exposed to a different language, and you don’t understand what’s happening.” And the key to early intervention is getting a diagnosis as early as possible. Although autism onsets very early, in the past, most children with autism did not receive a diagnosis until they were already four or five years old, meaning they missed out on much of that important time of development in early childhood. But one of the big breakthroughs in recent years, according to Dr. Chawarska, is that now children can be diagnosed much earlier, at one or two years of age. Dr. Chawarska’s research is focused on finding ways to diagnose children earlier in infancy. Another thing that children with autism have in common is the fact that they have difficulty paying attention to the faces of people who try to engage them in an activity. By using eye tracking technology, Dr. Chawarska’s team can have children watch a short video and measure up to 60 times per second where the child was looking. “Learning tends to happen most by children observing what other people are doing,” says Dr. Powell. “So, if a child’s not necessarily paying attention to someone’s face or what they’re doing, they’re missing those opportunities to learn about the world.” And early diagnosis and intervention can have tremendous impacts on a child’s future - for some, it could mean being able to live independently as adults, or to access mainstream education. “If we give this child capacity to communicate using any means, using gestures, eye contact, pictures, or words, a whole new world opens up to this child,” says Dr. Chawarska.
5 авг 2024
