Thursday, May 17, 2012
Sheraton Hall (Sheraton Centre Toronto)
1:00 PM
F. Someki1, T. Miyachi2, K. J. Tsuchiya1, K. Matsumoto1, Y. Seno3, S. Nakajima1 and M. Tsujii4, (1)Research Center for Child Mental Development, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan, (2)Nagoya City University Hospital, Nagoya, Japan, (3)Department of Educational and Developmental Science, Aichi Prefectural University, Nagakute, Japan, (4)Department of Contemporary Sociology, Chukyo University, Nagoya, Japan
Background: The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been increasing over the past 15 years, and currently the estimated prevalence rate of ASD ranges from approximately 6.6 to 12 per 1,000 births in developed countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Japan (e.g., Baird et al., 2000; Fombonne et al., 2003; Honda et al., 2005). Although the estimated appearance rates vary, it is certain that the number of children with ASD in our society is not small to be ignored. Recently, Ozonoff and colleagues (2011) reported that siblings of those who have ASD have even higher prevalence rates of ASD than general population, indicating the importance of early screening of siblings of ASD children. However, little is known about the details of the siblings' developmental course yet, especially in countries other than the U.S.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine unique developmental characteristics among younger siblings of children with ASD, if there was any.
Methods: This study was a part of a small prospective study of siblings of children with ASD in Japan. All the participants (i.e., siblings) of the study were assessed at the following months: 4, 6, 10, 14, 18, 24, 31, 37 and 50 using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (Mullen, 1995). For this presentation, two to three participants were selected to examine the early signs of ASD and other developmental risk. The results of each assessment will be presented at the presentation.
Results: For those participants who exhibited early signs of ASD or other developmental risk, the signs started to appear as early as 18 months. Unique behavioral characteristics were also observed during the assessments.
Conclusions: Although the number of participants were very few, this study suggested the importance of early screening of siblings of children with ASD both quantitatively and qualitatively.
