Autism therapy aimed at infants may reduce likelihood of later diagnosis

Doctors have shown for the first time that a new therapy aimed at infants can reduce autistic behaviour and the likelihood the children will go on to be diagnosed with autism before they reach school age. Infants who received the therapy after displaying early signs of potential autism, such as avoiding eye contact and not responding to their name, were one-third as likely to have autism diagnosed at the age of three, compared with those who had standard care, the researchers found.