Group announces guidelines for autism screening, treatment

State officials and doctors hope a new set of statewide guidelines will improve screening and increase early intervention in autism spectrum disorders.

"With intervention 90 percent are shown to make dramatic improvements in their quality of life," said Bill Thompson, founder and board president of the Thompson Foundation for Autism, during a conference call with reporters Thursday. The center along with Missouri Department of Mental Health's Division of Developmental Disabilities sponsored the project.

For about a year, 42 parents and professionals have been formulating the guidelines.

"This will directly lead to better lives for children and families," said Bernard Simons, director of the division.

Locally two people were involved with the project, Connie Hebert, director of the Autism Center for Diagnosis and Treatment, and Marilyn Cox, whose son was diagnosed with autism in the mid-1980s.

"I think one of the major impacts will be an alignment among practitioners about how autism will be diagnosed," Hebert said.

Because different types of professionals across the state diagnose autism, she said, the guidelines will bring consistency to the diagnosis. In turn, treatment will also be more effective and uniform, she said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 110 children has an autism spectrum disorder.

"The number seems to grow every time the statistics are assessed," said Dr. John Mantovani, medical director at St. John's Mercy Child Development Center in St. Louis.

He said autism is recognizable by professionals as early as 18 months, but often it does not get diagnosed until children are between the ages of 5 and 8. There are often socioeconomic disparities in screening and disparities in the availability of treatment that influence those numbers, said Mantovani, who participated in the project. The guidelines, he said, will establish more consistency across the state for screening.

Cox was one of a few parents involved with the project. She said parents worked alongside special educators, speech pathologists, psychologists and physicians to provide insight.

"Our hope is to have it in the hands of every physician who sees children," she said.

She said input from parents helped make the document usable for other parents learning about the disorder.

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