CHICAGO (WBBM) - A three-day international conference on autism opens Thursday at the Chicago Hilton.
More than 1,400 people from around the world are registered, and 850 papers and studies were submitted for consideration. It comes days after the publication of groundbreaking research on genes that could be responsible for autism and their effects on the brain's pathways.
The Chief Science Officer of the group Autism Speaks, Geraldine Dawson, says researchers agree that the earlier a diagnosis can be made, the better the chances that treatment will minimize or eliminate autism.
"The hope is that eventually we will be able to recognize autism really from the first day of life and intervene early before the full symptoms manifest, and maybe even prevent autism," she said.
Researchers attending the conference will present studies focusing on attempts to diagnose children with autism as young as 12 to 18 months. Dawson said some testing is being done on children as young as 10 months old.
The average age of children diagnosed with autism in the United States has dropped from 5.6 years to 4.6 years, in the latest studies, but researchers say that in many cases, that is far too late to begin optimal treatment.
Dawson and others want to see more sharply defined testing and treatment standards, although she said researchers now know that autism is actually many diseases, not one.
"It's many different diseases with maNy different causes," she said. "It's going to be important to discover every one of these individual causes.
She said while some may be treatable through common forms of medication and regimen, she said some will require forms of treatment "tailor-made" to the specific ailment.
The conference runs through Saturday.
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