Studies Try to Pin Down Timing of ‘Early’ Autism Treatment

Published February 27, 2014 in Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative

Autism researchers and advocates often express concern that the average age of autism diagnosis in the U.S. hovers around 4 years even though most cases of the disorder can be reliably identified by age 2. In this highly contentious field, the need for early diagnosis and early intervention is one of the few areas of agreement. Surprisingly, though, there has been little hard evidence that earlier diagnosis improves the lives of people with autism in the long term. At last, this evidence is becoming available. The field turned toward more rigorous studies a decade or so ago, and many of those studies, focused on children between about 2 and 4 years old, are starting to bear fruit.

http://sfari.org/news-and-opinion/news/2014/studies-try-to-pin-down-timing-of-early-autism-treatment

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