Good News Broadcast
with Paul Sladkus

Pediatric Medical Association Mandated Autism Screening

Only a dozen years ago, I took my child to a myriad of psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists and speech pathologists.  It was not until she was 6 and half that we obtained a diagnosis of autism.  In those days, PDD or Pervasive Developmental Disorder was also known as Pervasive Developmental Delay.  The difference between the word delay and disorder led us to believe that she would some day catch up. Now at 19, she is considered classically autistic.

Two weeks ago, the Pediatric Medical Association mandated an autism screening for young children ages 18 months to 24 months. This early diagnosis will make a huge difference in the outcome of affected children.

Data shows that children from ages 2 to 5 who have early intervention and specifically Applied Behavior Analysis intervention or one to one teaching for at least 25 hours per week and preferably 40 hours a week, are more capable of mainstreaming by the time they reach school age.

Although there are many interventions available, Applied Behavior Analysis is the only intervention that has the data that show progress on learning and social behavior for children on the Autism Disorder Spectrum.  In this intervention, the earlier treatment begins, the better the outcome for the child.

Although the outcome for total mainstreaming is approximately 15% of ASD young children, there is more educational progress for the child affected by autism.  There is a difference in the child’s potential and future.  This is something you don’t know until it’s too late. It’s better to intervene early and intensely than to hope it will go away or to do a home program that doesn’t do the child justice.   

Parents all hope to mainstream their child, but the thought of being able to educate them, to be able to bring them into the community is also a gift to these families.

From where we sit as retailers and members of the autism community, listening to parents and professionals on a daily basis, our anecdotal data from our parents is that there are huge gains to be made by intervening early. In order to do that, it’s important to get the screening as early as possible and perhaps get more than one opinion.

In our case we had over 6 professionals tell us that our child was delayed and not autistic solely because she made eye contact. Try to find a pediatrician who understands the spectrum and Google® the features or symptoms of autism because in the DSM 4. In the long run, it’s really the parents who answer the question relating to their young child. 

The mandate for early screening is an important step towards helping young children on the spectrum while their brains can be retrained to appear to be mainstreamed.  The autism is still underlying but there are many cases of children who appear and respond totally as their neurologically typical peers.  Go to: www.difflearn.com for more information.

Julie Azuma started Different Roads to Learning in 1995.  The company sells learning products for children diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities including Asperger’s Syndrome. In 1999, she created DRL Books Inc. a publishing company for books and manuals that were missing in the repertoire of books available to parents and teachers of these children.  DRL Books is primarily a business to business company.  In August of 2005, she began the Mind and Memory Store which is dedicated to mental fitness and short term memory retention. The three companies provide service to over 30,000 customers.

~ Submitted by: Good News Broadcast member Julie Azuma.