Early Growth in Toddlers May Indicate Autism?

Researchers suggested that early and accelerated growth may be linked to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) according to a study conducted at the Child Study Center at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. The study involved 184 boys aged less than 36 months.
The study shows that boys who have autism are often taller, weighed more and have bigger head circumference than those children of same age who are not affected with the disorder. The research replicated and confirmed earlier studies correlating early rapid growth to having autism. How do autism causes rapid growth is still unclear, and researchers suggests that future studies is needed to examine long-term effects of overgrowth among older children, like adolescents, and to girls as well.
It is found that the biggest boys in the study group exhibited greater severity of social deficits and lower adaptive functioning than those whose growth is standard. Professionals and parents alike are often looking on how to quickly diagnose, or detect, autism in children. Although diagnosis of autism can be assigned reliably after the second birthday, researchers said, symptoms typically emerge when the baby is aged 6 to 18 months.
But researchers quickly stressed to parents that rapid growth does not mean that they are autistic, rather the child should be clinically examined to determine presence of genetic disorders. Early childhood growth should not be considered a diagnostic marker for autism.
According to CDC it is estimated that 1 in 110 children in the United States have some of autism spectrum disorders, making autism more prevalent than childhood cancer. It is more likely to occur among boys than girls, and it occurs among all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

Here is the link to the original article:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/751101?src=rss

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html