When Arlo was 18-months-old, his parents, John and Jenna, noticed subtle sensory issues and a lack of speech development.
They asked their pediatrician if the characteristics and behaviors Arlo was exhibiting could be possible signs of autism. The pediatrician reassured them that nothing was amiss and said, “Boys develop later.”
By 2, Arlo still was not speaking.
A friend told Jenna that SARRC was conducting an early intervention study with pediatricians in the Valley, which included a pediatrician that had been recommended to them.
“I immediately contacted them. At the appointment, I filled out a screening questionnaire; maybe 12 or so questions about Arlo’s development. He indicated every single red flag for autism,” Jenna says. As part of the study procedures, the new pediatrician referred Arlo to SARRC, and he was evaluated for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
The screening, which ultimately led Jenna and John to SARRC, was part of a five-year study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to lower the age of autism diagnosis.
Launched in 2014, the study is led by Christopher J. Smith, Ph.D., vice president and research director at SARRC.
“Over the course of five years, SARRC’s research team recruited and assembled a robust network of more than 100 pediatricians across 13 practices and trained them to use a structured screening questionnaire at the 12-, 18- and 24-month well-baby visits,” Smith says. “If the screening indicated delays, the child was referred to SARRC for an evaluation to identify ASD.”
Since the study’s inception, the network of pediatricians have conducted more than 50,000 screenings and identified delays for approximately 10 percent of children.
The study results indicated 90 percent of children referred for further evaluation were identified with ASD or another developmental delay and the average age of diagnosis was lowered to 22 months — a significant drop from the original average of 55 months reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“As with any screening, there are false-positives, or delays identified in typically developing children, and not all parents chose to pursue the evaluation,” Smith says.
Still, he reports that nearly 700 children have been evaluated at least once. Additionally, because the study included annual follow-up evaluations until the child turned 3 years old, approximately 400 of those patients were evaluated at least twice, which only confirmed the early diagnosis of ASD.
