Early recognition of 1-year-old infants with autism spectrum disorder versus mental retardation

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Julie A Osterling1, Geraldine Dawson, Jeffrey A Munson

  • 1Center on Human Development and Disability, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA. osterlin@u.washington.edu

Development and Psychopathology
|May 28, 2002
PubMed

Insights

Early detection of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is possible at 1 year of age. Infants with ASD show distinct social and behavioral differences compared to typically developing infants and those with mental retardation.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Clinical Psychology

Background:

  • Previous research identified early behavioral differences in infants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to typically developing infants.
  • Distinguishing ASD from other developmental conditions like mental retardation at 1 year of age remains a critical diagnostic challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be differentiated from mental retardation in 1-year-old infants.
  • To identify specific behavioral markers that distinguish ASD from typical development and mental retardation at 12 months of age.

Main Methods:

  • Home videotapes of first birthday parties from 20 infants later diagnosed with ASD, 14 with mental retardation (no ASD), and 20 typically developing infants were analyzed.
  • Blind raters coded the frequency of social behaviors, communicative actions, and repetitive motor movements.

Main Results:

  • One-year-olds with ASD were distinguishable from both typically developing infants and those with mental retardation.
  • Infants with ASD exhibited less eye contact and name orientation than infants with mental retardation.
  • Infants with ASD and mental retardation showed reduced gesture use and object focus, alongside increased repetitive motor actions compared to typically developing infants.

Conclusions:

  • Autism spectrum disorder can be reliably distinguished from mental retardation and typical development by 1 year of age.
  • Specific differences in social engagement and repetitive behaviors serve as early indicators for ASD.

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