Study Establishes New Criteria For Autism Diagnosis

By: Cheryl Wills
Important news about autism: There's new criteria for diagnosing the developmental disorder and many parents are especially concerned how it may affect services they receive for their autistic child. NY1's Cheryl Wills filed the following report.

Experts are calling a new study on autism one of the most comprehensive to date.

Research published in the Journal of American Psychiatry creates new criteria for diagnosing autism in an effort to simplify a cluster of conditions into one category called "Autism Spectrum Disorder."

Dr. Catherine Lord of the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain at NY-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell & Columbia is one one of the study's authors.

"One of the reasons we're trying to do this is to have a single diagnosis so it's less confusing and has less arbitrary distinctions," she says.

Doctors evaluated 4,453 autistic children from across the U.S. and Canada. When they applied new criteria, they found that 91 percent qualified for the diagnosis.

To be diagnosed under the new criteria rules, individuals have to exhibit six or more of 12 behaviors, such as poor eye contact, language delays and lack of social bonding.

Although there was great anticipation for the study's results, there was also a lot of anxiety.

"When the APA changes their criteria it causes panic," says Lois Braverman, the president of the Ackerman Institute for the Family, which is one of the nation's leading training centers for family therapists. "Families with a special needs child would be totally concerned about how the problem is defined because it determines what kind of services they get for their child."

But the study's author says there is no cause for panic.

"There was so much concern, especially with people who had PDD and OS diagnoses and Asperger's diagnoses, which is now going to be folded into this general category of Autism Spectrum Disorders, that that would mean they would lose a diagnosis and lose services," Lord says. "What we were able to show is that's not true."

Reserachers say it's not true because if patients have one of those disorders, it's equivalent to the new category of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

To learn more about the study, visit ajp.psychiatryonline.org.
SOURCE 

Autism Programs Work Best When Started Early

By Cole Petrochko, Staff Writer, MedPage Today

Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston

Intensive behavior programs for autism spectrum disorders were moderately effective at improving core deficits, particularly when started shortly after diagnosis, but additional and stronger research on these programs is needed, a systematic review found.

Action Points

• A policy statement on nonmedical interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders suggests that early, comprehensive, intense, and longer-duration interventions are most likely to assist with core deficits.
• Note that strength of evidence from review of systematic reviews and intervention studies was not considered high and thus the policy committee could not distinguish among techniques nor assess characteristics of children most likely to benefit; further research was recommended.

A policy statement from the Evidence-based Practice Center on behavioral interventions for autism found that programs offering comprehensive, intense, and long-duration interventions started shortly after diagnosis and for at least 25 hours a week may offer the best outcomes, according to Margaret Maglione, MPP, of the Southern California Evidence-based Practice Center in Santa Monica, and colleagues.

Interventions should address social communication, language, play skills, and maladaptive behavior, they wrote online in Pediatrics.  READ MORE >>

The Encyclopedia of Dietary Interventions by Karyn Seroussi and Lisa Lewis, PhD.

Kimberly Linderman  | The Autism File

Anyone looking to understand, implement or maintain dietary interventions will find this book incredibly helpful. Karyn Seroussi and Lisa Lewis have written an invaluable resource for your autistic child, loved one with immune system dysfunction or someone combating yeast and bacteria.

In 1995, Karyn Seroussi and Lisa Lewis created an international parent network for dietary and biomedical interventions for autism. Thirteen years later, the sum of their knowledge is here in one easy-to-reference guide. In our search to treat and recover our ASD children, we as parents learn that dietary intervention is one of the most successful and important treatments available. The difficulty has always been trying to learn, implement and maintain the diets we choose. All of the needed information is now available in this one comprehensive guide that is easy to read and understand.

This encyclopedia makes implementing dietary intervention seem like a breeze. If you feel that you do not have the time to do the research, the energy to learn the information or enough information to maintain this intervention, this resource is definitely the one for you!

Karyn Seroussi is the author of Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and PDD, which is the story of her son’s recovery through dietary and biomedical interventions.

Lisa Lewis, Ph.D is the author of Special Diets for Special Kids I & II. two of the most insightful and helpful books available on the GF/CF diets for children with disabilities.

All three of the books previously written by these two fine authors were instrumental in helping me with my son on his road to recovery. Their newest endeavor will be even more helpful and I can only imagine how valuable this comprehensive encyclopedia will be to someone who is just starting their journey.

Packed with tips, hints and strategies, The Encyclopedia of Dietary Interventions will make these diets easy to learn and understand with simple but thorough explanations. Karyn and Lisa’s newest book is a must-have resource for those new to the autism diagnosis and battle hardened veterans alike.

The Encyclopedia of Dietary Interventions
By Karyn Seroussi and Lisa Lewis, Ph.D
ISBN 978-0-615-20169-6
www.autismndi.com
Publisher: Sarpsborg Press; 1st Edition June 23, 2008

Read more…

Who should be told about an autism diagnosis?

Receiving an autism spectrum diagnosis is a life-changing event. Now that you know, the next question becomes who should you tell? What do you base this decision on? It can be difficult to know how much information to give because you don't want to overwhelm people yet you need to give enough information to educate and inform. There will be some trial and error in disclosing because there's no way to predict another person’s reaction; some reactions will be positive and others will be negative. Negativity often stems from fear so an initial negative reaction can turn positive once... more »

Autism Awareness Centre Inc