Autism Speaks has announced the funding of five million dollars in new research. In this and my next few blog posts, I'll describe the research and why it's important. The five million dollars is allocated over sixteen different grants. Two of them are described here.

I'd like to begin by quoting part of the Autism Speaks release:

Novel directions in early detection of autism

Two studies to be funded are focused on developing new methods for very early detection of ASD. The first will validate a simple questionnaire that can be used by pediatricians to screen for ASD in one year-old babies (Using Parent Report to Identify Infants Who Are at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) James Resnick, M.D., UNC at Chapel Hill). The second by Sabine Bahn, M.D., Ph.D., MRCPsych, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Cambridge will search for biomarkers for ASD by analyzing blood samples using a newly-developed technology platform called xMAP to identify a panel of proteins that can serve as diagnostic biomarkers for ASD (Biomarkers and Diagnostics for ASD)

Countless studies have shown us that early intervention is the best way to get a good outcome with most autism. No matter what level of autistic impairment you have, the sooner you start working on it, the better off you are. My own life experience has made that crystal clear. So how do we do that?

Right now one of the best early screening tools we have is called M-CHAT. It's a quiz pediatricians give to parents of toddlers. The answers add up to a score that can cause the pediatrician to refer a tyke for evaluation and further testing - the first step down the diagnostic road.

M-CHAT is good, but by itself, it's not enough. First of all, it is only one component of a multi-step diagnostic solution. Second, its effectiveness varies in different cultures. A behavior that may seem abnormal to a Vietnamese mom might seem ordinary to a Mexican parent.

But the biggest weakness of M-CHAT is that it starts too late by focusing on toddlers. Scientists are working hard to develop screening tools that will pick up early signs of autism in infants, and that's what one of these studies aims to do. They are developing a questionnaire like M-CHAT, but for use with parents of infants.

I wil never forget the first time I read the M-CHAT questions. I looked at that simple sheet, and I thought to myself, This thing would have picked up autism in me and my son Cubby in an instant. If only we had known . . . How might our lives have been different, if we'd had that insight so long ago?

I am really excited about the prospects for detecting and remediating autism in infants. Such detection will present us a unique opportunity. You see, the infant brain is at its most plastic and formable. If we could accurately identify those kids who were turning down an autistic path at age one, I think we'd have a good chance of steering many of them back to a typically developing course.

The older we get as children, the more fixed parts of our brains become, and the more we become set in our differences. That's not to say we can't improve, grow, or change throughout life. It's simply that there is a one-time opportunity in early childhood, and many if not most autistic kids miss that chance today because it passes with parents unaware, or only vaguely aware.