Kind of interesting article about autism and premature birth.

[Sabine]

This was on CNN today. It doesn''t sound very conclusive since the babies were tested at 2 years and apparently autism can''t really be diagnosed until 3 years. But I thought I''d post it in case you all were interested!

 

[neatfreak]

Interesting...but not surprising considering that autism is a developmental disorder. Being born at 27 weeks or less is EXTREMELY premature and carries a huge risk of having permanent disabilities of some sort. I''ll be on the lookout for more research certainly, but interesting!

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Date: 1/31/2009 8:06:36 AM
Author:Sabine
This was on CNN today. It doesn't sound very conclusive since the babies were tested at 2 years and apparently autism can't really be diagnosed until 3 years. But I thought I'd post it in case you all were interested!

That is not really true anymore. Autism has been diagnosed as early as 12 months in a child who has an autistic sibling, and there is a push to diagnosis it as early as 18 months in the child at average risk. The test they used in the study is not a great test for under 3, but the diagnosis of autism is based on a set of clinical criteria, not a test. The reason why there is a push to diagnosis it early is that aggressive environmental intervention is the only treatment we have right now, and if that is going to work, you have to do it while the brain is still undergoing rapid development. The most rapid development occurs in the first 3 years of life.

I am not surprised by this. There are many things that put micro-premies at risk for neurological disorders. It is already known they have a higher rate of learning disabilities, ADHD, and CP. I think that autism is a neurological disorder that is functional (meaning that we can't see the problem with modern day imaging). I think it is a final common pathway of many different roads, meaning there are lots of things that cause it.