Could a test that measures how pupils react to light in young children’s eyes become an effective way to screen for autism?
Researchers at Washington State University who have been looking for an easy and early way to screen for autism have noticed, that in children with autism, there are differences—delays—in the time it takes for their pupils to constrict in response to a light. That same lag is also present in how long it takes their pupils to return to their normal size after the light was removed.
This reflex, called the pupillary light reflex, may allow healthcare providers to potentially diagnose autism at younger ages. Most children diagnosed with autism in the U.S. are diagnosed around age 4. The earlier the diagnosis, the more effective the interventions can be across a child’s life.
“We know that when we intervene as early as ages 18 to 24 months it has a long-term impact on their outcomes,” said Georgina Lynch, an assistant professor in the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine who worked with children with autism while practicing as a speech-language pathologist. “Intervening during that critical window could be the difference between a child acquiring verbal speech and staying nonverbal.”
Autism is a disorder that greatly affects communication and social interaction with others, Lynch said of the research published in the journal, Neurological Sciences. The study tested children ages 6-17. An estimated one in 44 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by age 8 and many kids get misdiagnosed or missed altogether.
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