Researcher Credited with Discovering Autism’s Earliest Warning Signs to Make Presentation at UA Conference Jan. 30

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A communications disorders expert credited with identifying some of the earliest warning signs of autism in toddlers is among those scheduled to present at the third annual Alabama Autism Conference at The University of Alabama, Jan. 30.

Dr. Amy Wetherby, the L. L. Schendel Professor of Communication Disorders and director of Florida State University’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders, is among those presenting at the conference, which convenes at 8:15 a.m. following a one hour registration period.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Communication and Language in Autism Spectrum Disorders.” All sessions will be held at UA’s Bryant Conference Center. Registration is $140 per person. Student and group registration discounts are available. Last year’s conference attracted more than 600 people, including a mix of medical, mental health and educational professionals, along with parents. Registration, and other information, for the conference is available at http://pmdp.ccs.ua.edu. Click on “Health & Human Services” and follow links. For registration by telephone, dial 205/348-3000.

People with autism experience extreme difficulties in social interaction. Delays in language development and obsessive interests in routine behaviors are characteristics of people with autism. Its cause is unknown and, according to the Autism Society of America, as many as 1.5 million Americans are believed to have some form of autism. Government agencies estimate the number of people with autism is growing at a rate of 10-17 percent annually.

In one research project, Wetherby pored over hundreds of hours of videotaped sessions of young children interacting with their parents and a member of her staff in specially designed situations.

Over the course of the multi-year project, Wetherby identified nine early warning signs in children, ages 13 months to 24 months, who would later be identified as having delays linked to autism.

An awareness of these early warning signs could enable pediatricians and parents to seek earlier treatment for children. Earlier treatments have been shown to result in improved outcomes for children with autism, but autism has been difficult to diagnose prior to age 3 and often isn’t diagnosed until adolescence.

Presenters at the conference, which is co-chaired by Dr. Laura Klinger, associate professor of psychology at UA, and Meredy Hogue and Philip Young, both of the Autism Society of Alabama, will also include:

Klinger; Carol Gray, director of The Gray Center for Social Learning and Understanding in Michigan; Dr. Helen Tager Flusberg, professor in the department of anatomy and neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine and director of the Lab of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience; and Carol Goossens’, a speech/language pathologist and special educator in private practice in New York City.

Jerimie Goike, an adult diagnosed with autism, will give a luncheon talk at 12:15 p.m. on Jan. 30.

Two pre-conference workshops will also be held Jan. 29, beginning with a noon registration. Participants may choose one of the two to attend. Registration for the workshop is $75. One of the workshops will be led by Wetherby and the other by Dr. Mary E. Van Bourgondien, professor and director of Raleigh TEACCH Center of the University of North Carolina.

Klinger is a clinical child psychologist, in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, who has worked with children with autism for some 20 years. She is conducting a National Institute of Health-sponsored research project to examine how children with autism think differently from children with typical development. She directs a Pervasive Development Disorders clinic located on campus that provides diagnostic evaluations and treatment services for children with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders such as Asperger’s Syndrome.

Editor’s Note: The name of one of the conference’s presenters, Carol Goossens’, is spelled correctly.