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Website helps spot autism 'red flags'
By Lindsey Tanner |
January 6, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WHAT is so unusual about a baby fascinated with spinning a cup, or a toddler flapping his hands, or a preschooler walking on her toes?
Parents and even doctors sometimes miss these warning signs for autism, but an online video "glossary" makes them startlingly clear.
The Website offers video clips of autistic kids contrasted with unaffected children's behavior. Some of the side-by-side differences can make you gasp. Others are more subtle.
The free site also defines and depicts "stimming," "echolalia" and other confusing-sounding terms for autistic behavior. Stimming is repetitive, self-stimulating or soothing behavior including hand-flapping and rocking that autistic children sometimes do in reaction to light, sounds or excitement. Echolalia is echoing or repeating someone else's words or phrases, sometimes out of context.
The new site is sponsored by two nonprofit advocacy groups: Autism Speaks and First Signs. They hope it will promote early diagnosis and treatment, which can help young children with autism lead more normal lives.
Pediatrician Dr Michael Wasserman cautions that the site might lead some parents to needlessly fret about normal behavior variations, and said they should not use it to try to diagnose their own kids.
"Just as there's a spectrum in autism ... there's a spectrum in normal development," says Wasserman, with Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. "Children don't necessarily develop in a straight line."
But Amy Wetherby, a Florida State University professor of communications disorders who helped create the site, says sometimes "parents are the first to be concerned and the doctors aren't necessarily worried. This will help give them terms to take to the doctor and say, 'I'm worried about it'."
And while the children shown in the "Red Flags" video clips on the site have been diagnosed with some form of autism, the sponsors note that not all children behaving this way have something wrong. In fact, the behaviors in some short clips - when viewed individually - look fairly normal.
The important thing is to seek medical help if a child exhibits persistent unusual behavior, to either rule out autism or get an early diagnosis, says Alison Singer of Autism Speaks.
Adds Wetherby, "We now know that one out of 150 children has autism, or one out of 94 boys. It's not a rare disability. We also know that early intervention is critical."
The site is available to the public on the Autism Speaks Website (www.autismspeaks.org).
Several autism specialists who reviewed it called it an unusually helpful tool for parents and doctors.
"The moving pictures speak a million words," says Dr Edwin Cook, an autism researcher and educator at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
"Not only do I see this as useful for the general public and for parents who might be wondering ... but I will frankly be using it for education" and training, Cook says. He has received research funding from Autism Speaks but has no connection to the new site.
Stefanie Voss of Tallahassee, Florida, said it will be a great tool "for parents who are in the situation I faced three years ago, which is, 'I'm not sure if something's wrong with my child'."
She asked her pediatrician about her son Nicholas when he was 14 months old and was told he did not show "the classic signs" of autism, she says.
"He did smile and have eye contact, but what I've learned since is those aren't the only red flags," Voss said.
Nicholas did not point, wave, or demonstrate any other nonverbal communication. He also spent hours opening and closing cabinet doors or spinning plastic bowls on the floor.
She eventually took him to Florida state where he was diagnosed at the age of 17 months and intervention began. Nicholas is featured in a video on the site.
With speech lessons, physical therapy and behavior training several hours daily, he is now affectionate, social, talking, walking and in preschool.
"It shows you that all your hard work and early intervention pays off," Voss says.
Florida State University Center for Autism and Related Disorders: http://autism.fsu.edu/
Parents and even doctors sometimes miss these warning signs for autism, but an online video "glossary" makes them startlingly clear.
The Website offers video clips of autistic kids contrasted with unaffected children's behavior. Some of the side-by-side differences can make you gasp. Others are more subtle.
The free site also defines and depicts "stimming," "echolalia" and other confusing-sounding terms for autistic behavior. Stimming is repetitive, self-stimulating or soothing behavior including hand-flapping and rocking that autistic children sometimes do in reaction to light, sounds or excitement. Echolalia is echoing or repeating someone else's words or phrases, sometimes out of context.
The new site is sponsored by two nonprofit advocacy groups: Autism Speaks and First Signs. They hope it will promote early diagnosis and treatment, which can help young children with autism lead more normal lives.
Pediatrician Dr Michael Wasserman cautions that the site might lead some parents to needlessly fret about normal behavior variations, and said they should not use it to try to diagnose their own kids.
"Just as there's a spectrum in autism ... there's a spectrum in normal development," says Wasserman, with Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. "Children don't necessarily develop in a straight line."
But Amy Wetherby, a Florida State University professor of communications disorders who helped create the site, says sometimes "parents are the first to be concerned and the doctors aren't necessarily worried. This will help give them terms to take to the doctor and say, 'I'm worried about it'."
And while the children shown in the "Red Flags" video clips on the site have been diagnosed with some form of autism, the sponsors note that not all children behaving this way have something wrong. In fact, the behaviors in some short clips - when viewed individually - look fairly normal.
The important thing is to seek medical help if a child exhibits persistent unusual behavior, to either rule out autism or get an early diagnosis, says Alison Singer of Autism Speaks.
Adds Wetherby, "We now know that one out of 150 children has autism, or one out of 94 boys. It's not a rare disability. We also know that early intervention is critical."
The site is available to the public on the Autism Speaks Website (www.autismspeaks.org).
Several autism specialists who reviewed it called it an unusually helpful tool for parents and doctors.
"The moving pictures speak a million words," says Dr Edwin Cook, an autism researcher and educator at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
"Not only do I see this as useful for the general public and for parents who might be wondering ... but I will frankly be using it for education" and training, Cook says. He has received research funding from Autism Speaks but has no connection to the new site.
Stefanie Voss of Tallahassee, Florida, said it will be a great tool "for parents who are in the situation I faced three years ago, which is, 'I'm not sure if something's wrong with my child'."
She asked her pediatrician about her son Nicholas when he was 14 months old and was told he did not show "the classic signs" of autism, she says.
"He did smile and have eye contact, but what I've learned since is those aren't the only red flags," Voss said.
Nicholas did not point, wave, or demonstrate any other nonverbal communication. He also spent hours opening and closing cabinet doors or spinning plastic bowls on the floor.
She eventually took him to Florida state where he was diagnosed at the age of 17 months and intervention began. Nicholas is featured in a video on the site.
With speech lessons, physical therapy and behavior training several hours daily, he is now affectionate, social, talking, walking and in preschool.
"It shows you that all your hard work and early intervention pays off," Voss says.
Florida State University Center for Autism and Related Disorders: http://autism.fsu.edu/
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