Rapid ABC: Testing For Autism In 5 Minutes

For us autistic parents, we remember how long it was for our children to be evaluated for autism. Long hours at the examination office can be overwhelming with the tedious behaviors of our children sitting somewhere for a long time. That is all to familiar with most of us. For parents of young children, there is a new procedure in testing for autism and it only takes about five minutes including interactive play that will check for how the child learns, speaks, moves and behaves. Hearing and vision is also tested to ensure there is no problems there. Also, neurology is tested. Doctors still consider screenings at 9 months, 18 months, 24 or 30 months, with continued screenings if the child is within the high risk area. The test is called Rapid ABC or The Rapid Attention Back and Forth Communication screener, and was developed by Emory Autism Resource Center and Georgia Tech University. The Rapid ABC is designed to assess a child's risk for ASD's during a regular checkup in a pediatrician's office. For more information you should contact the Emory Autism Resource Center directly. You can also e-mail Monica Allen, who is the Senior Psychological Specialist at rapid.abc@gmail.com. The guidelines for autism determination from the American Academy of Pediatrics still recommends children be screened for autism at one and a half to two years of age. As Katy Crowther, mother of Ben, decided to push for autism testing at just 14 months. She said that "He wasn't imitating us. He wasn't pointing or clapping or playing any of those sort of interactive games." The Early Intervention has helped the Crowther family with their son Ben's development.

Here is the news cast video link for New Test For Autism from ABC KABC-TV Los Angeles, CA. I tried to put the video up here for you, but the embedded code was broken.