Autism can be diagnosed as early as 14 months

Autism is a spectrum disorder that can affect social skills, behavior and communication, with guidelines recommending screening during routine checkups at 18 and 24 months of age. Earlier diagnosis can also mean earlier intervention, which can help a child's development.

Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is “critical,” says Dr. David Agus. Although autism is typically diagnosed around age 3 or 4 in the United States, earlier detection can improve the effectiveness of some therapies.

“So if you can diagnose at 14 months of age before the connections are made, called ‘plasticity’, those connections through behavioral therapy can be stronger. So the hope is that we can influence the brain with behavioral therapy much earlier before those connections actually start so that they can function better later in life in children with autism spectrum disorder.”

Dr. Agus explained that in this particular study, detecting autism spectrum disorder was easier because standardized testing began at 14 months.

"So we think that if you start seeing delayed behavior in a child at an early age, doctors will follow the child until age 2 or 3 to see if it's an autism spectrum disorder. In this study, at 14 months of age, using standard tests, autism was diagnosed with 84% accuracy."

Only 2% of children who researchers thought had autism spectrum disorder turned out to develop normally, and 14% had another developmental disorder.

"This is a very important study and brings a lot of optimism for earlier treatment for children," said Dr. Agus.

With the latest data on what causes autism, there is still a lot we don’t know. What we do know for sure is that vaccines do not cause autism, contrary to a lot of misinformation that contributed to one of the largest measles outbreaks in decades.

There is evidence of a "significant genetic link" to autism, and the older the parents, the higher the chance of their child having autism.

"We think it's related to brain development in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy, but that's it."

Another small study published recently found that autism symptoms decreased by 45 percent for up to two years after patients were treated with “waste grafts.” Dr. Agus called the results “miraculous.”

“What they showed is that most children or adults with autism have constipation or diarrhea, and in this study, scientists gave patients antibiotics, followed by seven or eight weeks of taking a pill containing someone else's bacteria, and the autism symptoms were reduced by 45 percent.

This is a huge source of optimism. You get rid of the other biological issues that are going on, like digestive issues, and the brain can function better. So while it doesn't eliminate autism, it does significantly improve the symptoms and allow the child or adult to function better."