Teaching young children with autism to imitate others may improve a broader range of social skills, according to a new study by a Michigan State University scholar.
The findings come at a pivotal time in autism research. In the past several years, researchers have begun to detect behaviors and symptoms of autism that could make earlier diagnosis and even intervention like this possible, said Brooke Ingersoll, MSU assistant professor of psychology.
"It's pretty exciting," Ingersoll said. "I think we, as a field, are getting a much better idea of what autism looks like in infants and toddlers than we did even five years ago."
In the current study, Ingersoll found that toddlers and preschoolers with autism who were taught imitation skills made more attempts to draw the examiner's attention to an object through gestures and eye contact, a key area of deficit in autism.
Imitation is an important development skill that allows infants and young children to interact and learn from others. However, children with autism often show a lack of ability to imitate.
The study, which appears in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, analyzed children with autism who were 27 months to 47 months old.
The findings come on the heels of a paper Ingersoll published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science that highlighted recent findings in autism research by U.S. scientists.
While autism is typically diagnosed between the ages of 2 and 3, new research is finding symptoms of autism disorders in children as young as 12 months, the paper found.
"I think there's a lot of hope that if we can figure out the right behaviors early enough, and intervene early enough, we may be able to prevent the development of autism," Ingersoll said.
Ingersoll also has received a $120,000 grant from Autism Speaks, a nonprofit advocacy organization, to study the effects of imitation training on adolescents with autism who are nonverbal, a highly understudied group of individuals. That study begins this month.
Oct 13, 2011
Squirrel
not rated yet Dec 12, 2011dnatwork
5 / 5 (1) Dec 12, 2011Just last month I read here of a study that found differences in the mass of and number of neurons in the prefrontal cortex of autistic children (17% more, or something like that).
What I've read also indicates a growing consensus that autism is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental (in utero) factors. That makes sense since "autism" is basically an umbrella term for dozens of disorders, with similar or related symptoms but disparate causes. Which makes sense if you consider how complex the brain is.
Just like with cancer or heart disease, there is no one answer or silver bullet treatment, nor should there be any expectation of such.
deatopmg
not rated yet Dec 12, 2011see: www.vitamindcouncil.org
With a 10 fold increase in reported autism in recent decades the Cosmetics Industry may have created this monster with the inclusion of SPF crap in virtually every topical product.