Autism is usually diagnosed between the second and third year of life. Everyone agrees that the earlier autism can be diagnosed and treatment started the better. Now if the research at Yale University School of medicine holds up it may be possible to diagnose autism at birth. The found that children with autism were three times more likely to have trophoblast inclusions which reflect abnormal folding of microscopic layers in the placenta and are caused by altered cell growth. It was already known that trophoblast inclusions were more common in cases of chromosome abnormalities and genetic diseases. Citation: Biological Psychiatry, Published online (June 26, 2006).
It may very well be in the future that we start ABA and other therapies at an earlier age if this biological marker is a reliable indicator of autism.
