Scientists developed New Technique for the Early Detection of Autism

In a path breaking development, a team of scientists at Boston Children’s Hospital invented an easy technique, that will help doctors to diagnoses autism in children earlier. The pioneering technique will pave the way for an early detection and better treatment of the brain disorder in young children. The work detail of the new technique was published in journal BMC Medicine on 26 June 2012.

The technique, uses EEG scalp scanning equipment used for decades to diagnose epilepsy to spot weaknesses in the brain’s wiring. The researchers who carried out tests on more than 1000 children aged between two and 12 years found that it was up to 90 per cent accurate in detecting the disease.

Every two in 1000 children worldwide is suffering from Autism. The symptoms of the disease vary from child to child, however, the disease have some very common and invariable characteristics like difficulty with social interaction, difficulty with communication and a need for routine and repetitive behaviour. Since there is no permanent cure of the disease, patients are usually treated by a combination of speech, behavioural and other therapies.

Diagnosis of autism is more often a lengthy and complicated process and the average child is not diagnosed until the age of five and a half.