NEWSWEEK COVER: 'The New Age of Autism'
Scientists Hope to Identify Early Markers of Autism in Babies as Young as Six Months

Some of the most exciting new research on autism involves efforts to spot clues of the disorder in infants as young as 6 months, Newsweek reports in its February 28 cover story "The New Age of Autism," on newsstands Monday, February 21. Today most children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) aren't even seen by specialists until they've passed their 2nd birthdays, and many aren't diagnosed until at least the age of 3. But in a joint effort by the National Alliance for Autism Research and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, researchers at 14 sites, from Harvard to the University of Washington, are studying the baby siblings of children with autism. By measuring the infants' visual and verbal skills and their social interactions, scientists hope to identify early markers of autism before children turn 1, reports Senior Writer Claudia Kalb.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050220/NYSU006 )

At McMaster University in Ontario, Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum is studying the baby siblings of children with autism. Zwaigenbaum says that signs of the disorder, though at first subtle, are often there from the very beginning. Preliminary data show that 6-month-olds who are later diagnosed with autism generally have good eye contact, but they're often quieter and more passive than their peers, and they may lag behind in motor developments. The Baby Sibs consortium is also looking for early physical markers of the disorder, starting with the size of children's heads. A landmark study published in 2003 found that kids with autism experienced unusually rapid head growth between 6 and 14 months, and consortium members want to see if their young siblings do, too.

In their hunt for neurological clues, scientists are unveiling the inner workings of the autistic mind, Kalb reports. Using eye-tracking technology, Yale's Dr. Ami Klin is uncovering fascinating differences in the early socialization skills of children with autism. Klin has found that when affected toddlers view videos of caregivers or babies in a nursery, they focus more on people's mouths-or on objects behind them-than on their eyes. The study echoes findings in adults and adolescents with autism. "Our goal is to identify these vulnerabilities as early as possible," says Klin.

Beyond advances in early diagnosis, Kalb also reports on new treatments for autism. Yale's Robert Schultz and James Tanaka at the University of Victoria in Canada are hoping computer games can help kids with autism learn how to engage with human faces and identify emotions. The children follow directions to shoot at smiley faces or click on the guy who looks sad. So far, says Schultz, the kids appear to be improving. But will it help change the course of their lives? "That's the million-dollar question," he says.

The Newsweek cover package, produced in conjunction with NBC News, also includes Suzanne Wright's first-person account of her family's experience with autism. Wright and her husband Bob Wright, vice chairman of GE and chairman and CEO of NBC Universal, co-founded the Autism Speaks Foundation after their then-2-year-old grandson was diagnosed with autism in March 2004. "We watched helplessly as a delightful, apparently normal toddler lost his ability to interact with the outside world. It was as if he'd been kidnapped or somehow had his mind and spirit locked in a dark hole deep within him. For a grandmother, this has been indescribably painful to witness. For his mother and father, it is heartbreaking," Wright writes.

After her grandson's diagnosis, Wright was surprised to learn that autism is the most widely diagnosed developmental disability in the nation, affecting 1 in 166 children. But the disease receives only $15 million per year from private sources, compared with more than $500 million for childhood cancers, muscular dystrophy, juvenile diabetes and cystic fibrosis-which, combined, are less common than autism. To help close this gap in awareness and resources, the Wrights established Autism Speaks, a foundation whose goals include the development of a central database of 10,000-plus children with autism that will provide, for the first time, the standardized medical records that researchers need to conduct accurate clinical trials.

Also in the cover package, Contributing Editor Melinda Henneberger profiles 26-year-old Sue Rubin, who wrote the screenplay for "Autism Is a World," an Oscar-nominated documentary by Gerardine Wurzburg about Rubin's life. Rubin doesn't remember much about the first 13 years of her life, when she was considered severely mentally retarded: "Sadly, I was locked in autism." But in 1991, at the suggestion of a school psychologist, she tried communicating with a keyboard. She's now a junior history major at Whittier College and lives semi-independently, with an aide, in her home a few blocks from campus. Rubin still can't communicate verbally beyond a few phrases. But she's typed on her own for several years now, and had a lot to say-on autism, politics and her favorite pastime, playing the ponies-in a recent interview with Henneberger.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6994474/site/newsweek/ - main story

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6994441/site/newsweek/ - Suzanne Wright

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6999831/site/newsweek/ - 'My Mind Began to Wake Up'

(Read Newsweek's news releases at http://www.newsweek.com/. Click "Pressroom.")

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Distribution Source : PRNewswire

Date : Sunday - February 20, 2005