The importance of early intervention

Our guest columnist is Lee Ann Annotti, PhD, a licensed psychologist with Baptist Behavioral Health and Wolfson Children’s Behavioral Health.

Children learn a lot in their first few years of life; from walking to talking to feeding themselves, critical skills are developed in those early months and years. Parents and pediatricians work together to make sure little ones are developing on track.

When a child misses milestones, it may trigger an evaluation for a developmental disorder, like autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Most of the differences associated with ASD emerge before age 3 years, and children can be diagnosed as early as 18 to 24 months.

Understanding the spectrum

Early identification of autism spectrum disorder is an important first step toward accessing therapies and services that will benefit the child. As suggested in the name, autism is a spectrum; not a linear spectrum of high functioning to low functioning, rather a constellation of several traits, with each characteristic being on its own spectrum. As a result, ASD can look different from child to child.

Some children have advanced speech and are very bright, while other children may exhibit repetitive behaviors along with speech and intellectual delays. One child may have severe impairments across traits, and another child may only show mild differences that don’t significantly impact his or her ability to function in daily activities.

Take action: ASD early intervention

Early assessment is crucial to getting children quickly into evidence-based therapies to help lessen the severity of their sensory/processing differences, repetitive behaviors, and/or speech differences. Remember how much children’s brains grow and develop in those first few years? Early intervention harnesses that period – from about 18 months to 4 years – when the brain is more “plastic,” meaning treatment can potentially change or improve the connections in the brain.

Research from the National Institutes of Health and the American Academy of Pediatrics has consistently demonstrated that early intervention significantly improves the prognosis for children with ASD. Parents who suspect their child may have ASD or another neurodevelopmental disorder should seek an assessment as soon as possible.

While I understand parents may be hesitant to seek an evaluation because they don’t want their child to bear a “label,” I want to assure them that there’s no harm in evaluating early, while there may be risks to delaying.

The evaluation process is about correctly identifying both the child’s strengths and challenges to provide the correct treatment supports. According to the National Institutes of Health, some children make so much progress with early intervention that they no longer meet the criteria for diagnosis.

If your child is missing milestones or you suspect for any reason he or she may have a neurodevelopmental disorder, like autism spectrum disorder, reach out to your pediatrician to discuss your concerns. To learn more about Wolfson Children’s Rehabilitation Early Autism Intervention Program, call 904.202.4200.

Reference: National Institutes of Health