April is National Autism Awareness Month. Vector illustration. Holiday poster
Too many kids’ autism not being treated because of diagnosis delays
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Scott LaMar
April is National Autism Awareness Month. Vector illustration. Holiday poster
Airdate: April 6th, 2023
One in 44 children are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. That represents about seven million kids. It’s also a number that has grown substantially as researchers have learned more about Autism.
Those living with Autism may face challenges with behavior, social interaction, communication.
One of the keys to treating Autism Spectrum Disorder is to diagnose it early – something that can be difficult today for several reasons.
Joining us on The Spark Thursday was Dr. Cheryl Tierney, Medical Director at Meliora Health and a board certified developmental pediatrician with expertise in dealing with developmental and behavioral problems of children and teens.
Dir. Tierney explained what Autism Spectrum Disorder is,”Just like the name suggests, it’s a spectrum, meaning that children, adults that are diagnosed with this have a range of symptoms ranging from deficits in their social communication. So children might be nonverbal all the way to being completely fluent in speech, but may suffer with the social aspects of language. And then in addition to that, individuals that have autism may have difficulties with things like sensory sensitivities or rigidity of temperament. They may have difficulties with fixations of interest and other kind of behavioral aspects of the condition. But how it impacts each person is is different.”
How does Autism present,”It can present a variety of ways. The most common, though, are parents that identify difficulties in their child’s development. Maybe they’re not using words or communicating or using eye contact or gestures or pointing skills and then also behavioral challenges. So that’s another very common way that people that children will present to us that the it isn’t uncommon for family to present saying that my child’s been kicked out of daycare or preschool because they have very challenging behaviors. And then that leads to a visit with maybe their pediatrician or their family doctor who may identify that there’s more going on that needs evaluation.”
Dr. Tierney said one of the biggest challenges facing parents is how much time it takes to get their children evaluated,”That is exactly the challenge today. So access to diagnostic intervention, a diagnostic assessment is absolutely key for children to be diagnosed early. So if you’re a parent and you notice that your two year old is struggling and you bring that concern to your pediatrician, the last thing that parent wants to hear is that they have to go on a six, 12 or 18 month wait list to have that child assessed by professionals that are knowledgeable in the field. That, to me is it’s criminal. I think that it really does need to be addressed in a way comprehensively that we can help those families who raise concerns and have their child and as early as possible so that that child will meet their developmental potential.”
Dr. Tierney indicated that telehealth works when it comes to diagnosing Autism and it has made a great difference in the wait times.
