Call it mother's intuition. Linda Powell's only son Samuel was just two months old when she said she knew something was wrong.
"I had a colorful mobile over the changing area and he didn't focus on it at all," Powell said. "Usually by that time they're able to see some colors. I even switched to a mobile with all these different vibrant colors, and he still didn't focus."
That wasn't the only red flag. Samuel made long humming sounds instead of the "da's" and "ga's" of babbling babies his age. And although he liked toys, he didn't play like his curious peers.
Despite the warning signs, it would be three years before Samuel's unusual behavior had a name: Autism.
Current screening methods can signal autism in toddlers 18 months and older. But new research suggests a five-minute survey for parents could detect early signs of autism spectrum disorders in babies by the first birthday. The 25-question survey, which probes babies' verbal communication, emotional expression and gestures, has so far allowed researchers to diagnose autism spectrum disorders correctly 75 percent of the time. Of the nearly 15,000 1-year-olds studied by Pierce and colleagues, 184 failed the screen. Thirty-two went on to receive a provisional or final diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. Fifty-six were later diagnosed with language delay, nine were diagnosed with developmental delay, and 36 received "other" diagnoses. Fifty-one infants who failed the screen were "false-positives" and developed normally."Up until now, when a mother goes to a doctor and says, 'I think there is something wrong with my child,' the doctor just says, 'Let's wait and see -- some kids are slow in development,'" said Karen Pierce of the autism center at the University of California, San Diego, and lead author of the study