Where an infant fixes their gaze 'could be an early indicator of autism'

Source : autismcauses1.com

An early sign that a child may develop autism could be as simple as noting where they fix their gaze.

Those considered at 'high-risk' of developing a form of the disorder were far more likely to become fixated with a non-social toy when left to their own devices.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability and part of a spectrum disorder. The main symptoms are difficulties with social interaction, impaired communication skills and unusual thought and behaviour patterns. 

Autism is thought to affect one in 100 children in England and those with autistic siblings are 25 times times more likely to develop the condition than those with no family history of autism.

Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger institute and University of Delaware studied 25 six-month-old infants in this 'high-risk' group along with 25 of their peers. 

The youngsters were placed in a chair with a simple joystick. When they moved it the musical toy was activated and they were given more attention by their caregiver. When actively engaged the children in both groups spent a similar amount of time looking at the person as they did at the toy.

However, the team found that when the babies were not being engaged, those in the high risk group spent far more time gazing at the toy than the caregiver.

Study author Dr Rebecca Landa, said the study showed a subtle early marker for autism.

'This study shows that there is a particular vulnerability in high-risk siblings at six months of age,' she said.

'They are not as socially interactive and engaged on their own as their peers, but still respond typically when engaged by their caregivers, making for a subtle difference that could be easily overlooked by both parents and some professionals.'

The study suggests that like older children, infants at high risk of autism may benefit from frequent exposure to simple cause and effect lessons to aid their development.

'Babies in both groups of the study learned the multi-stimuli task to the same degree,' Dr Landa said.

'The high-risk siblings still have the capacity to learn cause and effect as well as their low-risk peers at this young age.'

Dr Gina Gomez de la Cuesta, Action Research Leader at The National Autistic Society was cautiously optimistic about the findings.

She told the Mail Online: 'There has been a lot of research which examines a child's level of joint attention or eye gazing patterns and the potential links to autism.

'This study of siblings is interesting as it shows more problems in initiating joint attention with others than responding to joint attention.

'However, until the children reach an age where diagnosis is possible, it is difficult to say how accurately these behaviours can be used to predict a diagnosis of autism.'

Via : dailymail.co.uk

Autism - Infant's Gaze a Possible Marker

Source : from nichd.nih.gov

Infants who show delayed communication and social skills are at a high risk of developing autism that may be indicated by unprompted gazing at people.

Published in the September issue of the Journal of Child Psychology
and Psychiatry, the study also found that six-month-old high-risk infants demonstrated the same level of cause and effect learning skills when compared to low-risk infants of the same age.

The study observed 25 infant siblings of children with autism (high-risk group) and 25 infants with no family history of autism (low-risk group) at six months of age in order to assess cause and effect learning as well as social engagement.

Infant siblings of children with autism are considered at high-risk for the disorder, as they are 25 times more likely to develop autism. Researchers at Kennedy Krieger, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Delaware, created a novel, multi-stimuli social learning task, where infants were seated in a custom chair with an attached joystick within easy reach, a musical toy located to the right and their caregiver on the left. Researchers evaluated how quickly the infant learned that the joystick activated the toy and the infant's level of social engagement with their caregiver.

Researchers found that, like the low risk group, the high-risk siblings exhibited typical levels of social gazing when their caregivers actively engaged them, such as pointing at the toy and expressing excitement.

However, high-risk sibs spent less time looking to their caregivers and more time fixated on the non-social stimuli (toy or joystick) when the caregiver was not engaging them, which could indicate a disruption in development related to joint attention. Joint attention is often a core deficit for children with autism.

Via : medindia.net

New Autism Study Concentrates On Infants Gaze

A new study on siblings of infants with Autism has been released by researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. 

In the study,  infant brothers and sisters of Autistic children were tested for early signs of the developmental disorder. 

They were tested for signs of social delay and later communication with their caregiver.

The infants in the study, a total of 50, half of which were brothers and sisters of children without Autism.  Infants in the high risk group, those with a family history of Autism, are 25 times more likely to develop the disorder. More children will develop Autism than will be diagnosed HIV/Aids or cancer.

The infants were tested for cause and effect learning and communication skills. Given the choice between playing with a musical toy or communicating with their caregiver. The infant was placed in a customized chair that gave them access to a musical plaything via a joystick on one side while a individual was on the other side.

The infants from the high risk group tended to want to have access to the toy as opposed social interaction with the caregiver. This occurred when the individual was not actively engaged with the infant. About 20 percent of the infants in the high risk group may develop Autism later on in childhood.

The study on infant siblings of children with Autism is published in the September issue of The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. The study was financed by grants from the National Institutes of Mental Health.

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