Well, in case you didn't know,
tomorrow is World Autism Day and
this year marks the 15th annual
World Autism Awareness Day.
And April is also World
Autism Awareness Month.
So today we're speaking with
pediatric neuropsychologist at the
Saint Luke's Center for Autism and
Neurodevelopmental Disabilities.
Dr Lena Harlan to put a spotlight on
awareness here in the Treasure Valley.
Doctor Harlan, thank you so
much for joining us here today.
Thank you, it's great to be
here perfect. Well first of all,
why is it so important to
have a world Autism Awareness
Day in the first place? Well,
I think you know autism has been
increasing in prevalence over the years.
It affects approximately 2% of children
and it's a social communication disorder,
so it can impact functioning
in a variety of ways.
And so the earlier we can identify
it and get children into treatment
and services, the better.
So being super aware of it,
I think, is really important
for kids and their outcomes.
And Speaking of identifying it,
what? What are some symptoms
and signs of autism? Well,
at its core autism,
we call autism spectrum disorders.
At its core, it's a social disorder
and it really impacts the ability of
a child to understand their social
world to process their social world,
to know how to respond to their social world.
And it can also impact communication and
how a child can communicate socially.
But there's other symptoms too.
Along with it like difficulties
with transitions.
Kind of insistence on sameness,
rigidity with routines,
repetitive behaviors,
strong interest in certain topics,
and the way the child perceives their
sensory world or their environment.
They can kind of either be,
have difficulties with too
much sensory stimulation,
or too little.
Just how common is autism?
I know some folks have friends or family
members who are dealing with that.
I mean, how common is it? Well,
I think the new CDC estimate
says about one in 44 children
have been diagnosed with autism,
so that's a little bit over 2%,
which is quite a bit than what
it used to be many decades ago,
which is more like 1 in 2500.
So we're really shedding a spotlight
on all of the children who may be
more mildly impacted by their autism
symptoms and are able to get them
diagnosed and into proper services.
Can you talk a little bit
about some of the resources out
there for families or folks?
Dealing with autism.
Sure, so there's a couple of more.
National resources that we might
recommend that if parents have
concerns that their child might
not be developing normally, no.
No autism usually shows
up in the early years.
Sometimes the symptoms are not really
apparent until child gets into school
and has to be social and has to
interact in the school environment.
But a child really does show
symptoms at a very young age.
It just doesn't show up.
You know, as a teenager,
so parents have concerns about their child.
Having social difficulties or
having delays in your language,
there are some good resources.
The CDC has an act now.
I know the signs resource just to
look at typical child development
so parents can look at that.
There's also a lot of really
good information about autism.
When the CDC website also
there's another organization,
national organization called
Autism Speaks that has really good
information about autism symptoms,
but secondary to that,
if the parents are concerned.
We do recommend that they talk with their
child's primary care doctor about it,
like their pediatrician or
family practice doctor, or,
you know,
advanced practice provider because
they can do some screenings and
decide if the child needs to
have additional assessment done.