If you give very young children a choice between looking at geometric images or human faces and human activities, children with autism spectrum will prefer the geometric images, according to a new study from the University of California in San Diego.

Professor Karen Pierce said that if a child ages 14 to 42 months old spends more than 69% of the time looking at the geometric images, the chances for autism spectrum are 100% positive. Older children in her study tested in similar ways as younger ones.

According to her study, 40% of the toddlers with autism spectrum spent more time looking at abstract images compared to only 2% of normal children.

This study is considered a breakthrough because testing using images is easy, inexpensive, and non-invasive.

The study appears in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
 

Labels: autism

Posted By: Jane St. Clair