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Infants at Risk
Early diagnosis is critical in the treatment of autism. Since the 90’s the age of diagnosis has been lowered consistently in order to enable the treatment of younger children. The consensus is that autism can be diagnosed by the age of three, however recently diagnostic tools have been developed that can assess autism in toddlers before 18 months.
The brain undergoes explosive growth during infancy. The social engagement and speech areas in the brain are rapidly developing between birth and age 2. Clinical experience at the Mifne Center indicates that the younger children improved more significantly than children who approached the age of three.
The Center treats infants at risk who display early signs of autism in their first year of life. The term pre-autism is used to refer to an infant’s inappropriate responses that signal bonding difficulties. A list of eight markers was created at the Center for the detection of pre-autism.
- Excessive passivity (lack of crying, lack of interest in surroundings)
- Excessive activity (lack of physical calmness, incessant crying)
- Refusal or resistance to feeding or nursing (breastfeeding/others)
- Lack of reaction to voice or presence of a parent (doesn’t turn his head, doesn’t smile, doesn’t babble)
- Aversion to parental touch (or any other person)
- Lack of direct eye contact (can follow objects)
- Delayed motor development (followed by hypotonic/high stiff muscle tone)
- Rapid growth of the circumference of the head (in relation to the initial point).
At least two characteristics of the eight signs must exist, over a period of at least three weeks.
All the relevant medical tests must be carried out before testing for suspected Early Signs of Pre-Autism.
The youngest infant to be treated at the Center was five months old. The parents were concerned about their infant’s total inability to make eye contact, to smile or to cry. They also noticed that their infant’s motor development was not progressing. The child’s young age made it possible to intervene at a sensory level to bring about change within a period of about two weeks. The child’s development was redirected, and today, 5 years later, she is a wonderful little girl whose development is continuing normally.
Early detection of attachment development disorder in infants
The recently launched ‘Infants At Risk’ project is a joint undertaking of the Mifne Center and Sourasky Medical Center of Tel-Aviv (Ichilov Hospital). It was introduced following clinical experience that accumulated at the Center, and is the first of its kind not only in Israel, but globally.
A study on early detection and treatment service for infants at risk is in progress at the psychiatric unit of the Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital), under the direction of Dr. Nehemia Kaysar to provide a response to infants from 3 months to one year. Infants who were diagnosed at the hospital are referred to Mifne for treatment. After treatment they are followed up and reassessed at the hospital.
Infants who were treated for early signs of autism went on to develop normally.
| For further information: Please contact the Mifne Center online or by phone: +972-4-6931021, +972-4-6802002 |
