Support that boosts toddlers’ social development can lead to them missing out on a diagnosis that secures ongoing help
- James Cusack is chief executive of Autistica, a British autism research charity
Being autistic, for me and the 700,000 other autistic people in the UK, often means spending a lot of time inhabiting a world that doesn’t work well for you. This is why it’s vital that the needs and preferences of autistic people are better understood. A trial of a therapy whose findings were published this week attempts to address this issue by trying to ensure the needs of toddlers who may be autistic are recognised.
On one hand, the results are exciting, but they are also complex. Complexity is always hard to communicate. The international research study, led by Prof Andrew Whitehouse at the University of Western Australia in Perth, is technically well designed. It partly replicates a previous trial, and has promising results. Of its two main findings, one is exciting for child development. The second is thornier in how it relates to autism diagnoses.
