Among the goals in the future is to reduce the mean age of an autism diagnosis so that, once recognized, effective interventions can be started that could affect outcomes, she said. Although autism can be reliably diagnosed by 18-24 months, the mean age of ASD diagnosis is currently about 4.5 years, she noted.
Dr. Carter disclosed that she is one of the developers of the BITSEA screening tool, used in the study she presented. Dr. Saulnier had no disclosures; the studies she presented received support from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Marcus Foundation, and the Whitehead and Woodruff Foundations. Dr. Miller said the UCSD study has been funded by NIMH, Autism Speaks, and the MINDlist.
A tutorial on recognizing the early signs of ASD, developed by the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore,is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtvP5A5OHpU.