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Updated: Dec 8, 2025
Probing the Brain in Autism Using fMRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: September 12, 2011
Affording autism an early brain development re-definition
Ami Klin1,2,3,4, Megan Micheletti5, Cheryl Klaiman1,2,3
1Marcus Autism Center, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Insights
Despite national efforts, early autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis remains delayed, especially for underserved groups. This review proposes redefining ASD based on early brain development to improve intervention outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Neurodevelopmental disorders
- Pediatric medicine
- Genetics
Background:
- National initiatives to advance early detection and intervention for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have not reduced the age of diagnosis in the US.
- Traditionally underserved populations continue to experience later ASD diagnoses.
- Current perceptions of ASD may be influenced by outdated definitions and historical associations, creating a perceptual barrier.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore a potential perceptual barrier hindering early ASD diagnosis and intervention.
- To propose a re-definition of ASD grounded in early brain development.
- To counter outdated notions that disability is predetermined at birth and that improvement is limited to symptom alleviation.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and conceptual analysis.
- Examination of current scientific understanding of ASD.
- Proposal of a re-definition of ASD based on neurodevelopmental principles.
Main Results:
- A perceptual barrier exists, rooted in outdated definitions and historical views of ASD.
- Current scientific understanding contradicts the notion that ASD-related disability is fixed at birth.
- Opportunities exist to optimize outcomes by leveraging current science in early brain development.
Conclusions:
- Redefining ASD in terms of early brain development can overcome perceptual barriers.
- This re-definition aligns with current science and opens new avenues for intervention.
- Shifting perspectives can counter self-fulfilling prophecies in science and policy regarding ASD outcomes.
Abstract:
The national priority to advance early detection and intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has not reduced the late age of ASD diagnosis in the US over several consecutive Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) surveillance cohorts, with traditionally under-served populations accessing diagnosis later still. In this review, we explore a potential perceptual barrier to this enterprise which views ASD in terms that are contradicted by current science, and which may have its origins in the current definition of the condition and in its historical associations. To address this perceptual barrier, we propose a re-definition of ASD in early brain development terms, with a view to revisit the world of opportunities afforded by current science to optimize children's outcomes despite the risks that they are born with. This view is presented here to counter outdated notions that potentially devastating disability is determined the moment a child is born, and that these burdens are inevitable, with opportunities for improvement being constrained to only alleviation of symptoms or limited improvements in adaptive skills. The impetus for this piece is the concern that such views of complex neurodevelopmental conditions, such as ASD, can become self-fulfilling science and policy, in ways that are diametrically opposed to what we currently know, and are learning every day, of how genetic risk becomes, or not, instantiated as lifetime disabilities.
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