Study supports earlier testing for autism spectrum disorders

Testing toddlers for autism spectrum disorders at 14 months or older is likely to produce the most consistent results, according to a new study. Most toddlers with ASD are diagnosed and begin treatment at around 4 years old, and the new results open up the possibility of testing treatments at an earlier age. Researchers looked at more than 1,200 toddlers and found that the stability of an ASD diagnosis — the likelihood that future assessments wouldn’t contradict the initial assessment — was weakest at around 1 year of age, but was strongest at 14 months and older. The next challenge, the authors write, is to determine the best treatments and how much of a benefit early detection offers in the long term.