Speaker: Sally Ozonoff, Ph.D.
Affiliation: Endowed Professor of Psychiatry and Vice Chair for Research, University of California Davis
Date: October 9, 2019
Talk title: Advances in Early Detection of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Abstract: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is typically diagnosed in the fourth year of life or later, but there is evidence from recent studies that symptoms are present much earlier, by the second year of life and earlier. There is now a strong thrust toward decreasing the age of diagnosis, with the hope that earlier detection will lead to earlier initiation of treatment and reduced disability. This presentation will cover new advances in detection of ASD in infants and toddlers, summarizing existing research and describing new results from an ongoing prospective study. Developmental challenges beyond ASD that occur in siblings will also be discussed. The talk with conclude with innovative approaches to early screening, including machine learning applications and automated detection of ASD-relevant behaviors in video.