Autism Spectrum Disorders – ASD
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
they occur within the first three years of life, and is characterized by a set of conditions that involve serious disabilities in social interaction, communication, imaginative skills and repetitive behaviors. The prevalence of disturbance is 1 in 88 children and a genetic cause can be demonstrated in most cases.
The diagnosis, generally, is unfortunately not formalized before 3-4 years of age. Its definition is considered reliable as early as 24 months if carried out by personnel experienced in recognizing the early signs of a socio-communicative dysfunction. Children with Autism have difficulty interacting adequately with others, in particular they have an inability to develop relationships with peers, a compromise of non-verbal behavior, a lack of spontaneous search for sharing joys, interests with other people.
On the level of language skills, these children present a qualitative alteration of communication which is expressed late or completely lack of spoken language, use of stereotyped and repetitive or eccentric language, difficulty in participating in simulation games.
These difficulties translate into restricted, repetitive and stereotyped interests and activities, such as clapping and twisting hands or head, and persistent interest in parts of objects.
Pediatrics Tomorrow has the objective of developing and implementing a shared and integrated therapeutic diagnostic protocol for the diagnosis and early treatment of children with ASD through the use of the M-CHAT * rating scale based on the observation of some behaviors of the child.
The use of this tool by the pediatrician, as also recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, allows early detection of signs of risk for the development of an autism spectrum disorder.
** The Italian version of the M-CHAT is available for free on the web at the following address: