Many parents of older autistic children look back and recall that their children experienced eating and feeding problems during infancy. These challenges negatively impacted their child’s quality of life resulting in issues from stomach pain to malnutrition. This study will examine feeding and eating behaviors in infants as early as 6 months old with a family history of either autism or ADHD. These infants will be followed to toddlerhood to determine if eating and feeding problems can contribute to early prediction of autism. The goals of this research are to determine if early eating difficulties are a sign of autism and if they are specific to autism, as well as how best to treat these issues early in children likely to be diagnosed with autism.
There is a critical need to understand how motor impairments drive development and predict outcomes in autism. Using an infant siblings research design, infants from 6 months of age will be tracked for 2 years to determine how specific motor impairments lead to social deficits that accompany an autism diagnosis. This study will utilize both home video observation and data gathered from activity sensors worn by the infant to examine specific motor abilities that are linked to later social skills in toddlers. The results of this study may identify potential areas of early intervention to improve developmental outcomes and possibly ameliorate autism symptoms.