Special Needs News - Stopping Autism in Infants & Exercise Instead of Drugs for ADHD - 10 September 2014

Treating infants with signs of autism may reduce or stop their symptoms

Intervention, once infants show signs of autism, may reduce or eliminate their autistic symptoms, according to research from the UC Davis Mind Institute.  In a small study, six of seven infants who received a treatment called Infant Start no longer needed treatment for autism when they reached age 4. All of the infants in the study were between 6 and 15-months-old.

"Most of the children in the study, six out of seven, caught up in all of their learning skills and their language by the time they were 2 to 3," said Sally J Rogers, the study's lead author and the developer of the Infant Start therapy. "Most children with ASD are barely even getting diagnosed by then." "

"For the children who are achieving typical developmental rates, we are essentially ameliorating their developmental delays," Rogers said. "We have speeded up their developmental rates and profiles, not for every child in our sample, but for six of the seven."

The treatment was based on the Early Start Denver Model developed by Rogers and Geraldine Dawson.  Prior to the start of treatment, all of the infants were assessed with the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) and the Infant-Toddler Checklist and were considered at risk for autism.

More information is available from the UC Davis Mind Institute.

“Autism treatment in the first year of life: A pilot study of Infant Start, a parent-implemented intervention for symptomatic infants,” is published online in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Before School Exercise Increases Attention for Kids with ADHD

Credit: Lars Ploughmann on Flickr

Exercise before school could replace medication for some children with ADHD report, researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Vermont. Two hundred students in grades ranging from kindergarten to second grade participated in the study.  Some students showed signs of ADHD while others did not.  Although the exercise sessions helped all the students, those with ADHD received the most benefit.

“Although our findings indicated that all participants showed improvements, children with ADHD risk receiving exercise benefited across a broader range of outcomes than those receiving the sedentary activities,” researcher Alan Smith said.

The study "A Randomized Trial Examining the Effects of Aerobic Physical Activity on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms in Young Children" is published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.