Children are not usually diagnosed with autism until they are three years old. But intervening when the child’s brain is still malleable can improve the social development of a child with Autism.
Around one in 50 youngsters fall on the spectrum, but they are less likely to be diagnosed with autism if their parents take part in video-based therapy.
The therapy, known as iBASIS-VIPP, involves filming a child with early signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder and their parents interacting. Parents then watch the clips with a practitioner to discuss the best ways to help them develop. The video therapy is already used in the UK for parents of children aged under five who are in adoptive care in order to help address their emotional and psychological needs.
The study was carried out by British and Australian academics at Manchester University and the University of Western Australia.
The researchers discovered infants treated using the approach were two-thirds less likely to be diagnosed with autism at age three. The treatment improved the social development of children and their autistic behaviours, such as being sensitive to bright lights, loud
noises and repeating themselves. However it didn’t reverse the developmental difficulties of children who showed signs of having autism as a toddler, although, researchers said spotting the signs earlier may also help them develop.
Autistic Children can find it hard to make eye contact or understand how others feel. They can have a keen interest in certain topics, but they may also take longer to get their head around information. In babies, the condition can include not smiling, making eye contact or responding to their name.
Doctors diagnose the disorder by assessing their development, for example noting when they started talking, watching how they interact with others and studying reports from their nursery or school.
Over the course of four years, specialists examined 103 nine to 14 month-old babies in Australia aged who had showed early signs of autism. Fifty babies received 10 video therapy sessions in addition to their normal care, depending on what their doctor recommended. The others received only standard treatment.
In the iBASIS-VIPP sessions, experts helped parents understand their child so they could understand how to help them develop socially. They assessed each child at the start of the study and again at the end, and also when they were aged two and three years old. The assessments included in-depth examinations of their attention span, whether they responded to their name being called, and different facial expressions.
Results showed that babies given the treatment were 68% less likely to meet the criteria for autism by the time the children were three years old. In addition, their autism symptoms — which can include not being able to focus on an object as it moves and being slow to speak — were 28% less severe.
The children who participated in the trial still have developmental difficulties, but iBASISVIPP can support them through their early years. The findings support a smaller trial of the video-based therapy in the UK, which saw similar benefits for children. Experts said it gave them more confidence in the ‘reality of the results’.
Previous autism therapies have attempted to replace a child’s developmental difficulties with more ‘typical’ behaviours, but iBASIS-VIPP allows a child to learn in ways that are best for them.
Professor Jonathan Green, a child psychiatrist at Manchester University, said “iBASISVIPP works with each child’s unique differences and [it] creates a social environment around the child that helps them learn in a way that was best for them.
“This is the first evidence that a pre-emptive intervention during infancy could lead to such a significant improvement… The children falling below the diagnostic threshold still had developmental difficulties… But by working with each child’s differences, rather than trying to counter them, the therapy has effectively supported their development through early childhood… With this therapy we are providing support before a diagnosis is given – and parents overwhelmingly want this… This evidence could have a massive impact on clinical practice and public health.”
Professor Andrew Whitehouse, based at the University of Western Australia, said the implications of the findings are ‘enormous’.
He said “Interventions commencing during the first two years of life, when the first signs of development difference are observed and the brain is rapidly developing, may lead to even greater impact on developmental outcomes in later childhood… This is a genuine landmark moment for child health research… Our aim is to understand each child’s strengths and challenges so that we can better support and nurture the unique abilities they bring to this world… This is an important step forward in what we hope is an opportunity to develop new clinical models that use very early intervention in babies showing early behavioural signs of autism.”
A follow-up study of the children will be critical in order to determine if there are longerlasting impacts from the therapy.
The study was published in JAMA Pediatrics