Study Links Earlier the Intervention to Improved IQ in Children with Autism

A study released by the University of Washington Autism Center sets a new stage for early autism recognition, which can lead to higher IQs and increased social skills in autistic children.
While the UW Autism Center has worked on a variety of studies related to autism, the Early Start study is at the forefront due to its success in early intervention, with some of the toddlers in the study being as young as 18 months. The method, which was deemed the “Early Start Denver Model” (ESDM), was measured against a community-based autism program and, in the end, was found to improve children’s IQ scores by an average of 17.6 points, while the community intervention only improved by seven points.
“If you reach a child before the two-and-a-half year mark that’s not adapting to the environment or picking up skills that typical kids should, you’re sort of preventing the predicted delay that they’d have,” said Milani Smith, director of Clinical Services at the UW Autism Center Clinical Program.