Warning Given About Autistic Children

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31942, 20 March 1969, Page 15

Warning Given About Autistic Children

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright)

SYDNEY, March 19.

Parents should seek medical advice if their children were not saying at least three words by the time they were 18 months old, said the professor of child health at Queensland University.

Professor John RendleShort gave this warning before giving a public lecture in Sydney on infantile autism yesterday. If a child was not saying three words at the end of 18 months, infantile autism, a recently-discovered disease, was a possible cause of its condition.

Infantile autism, possibly caused by a biochemical dis-

order, manifested itself in young children, giving them an aloof “shut in” personality. This condition gave them no desire to speak or communicate in any way, the professor said. The disease was not discovered until 1943 and only recently had it received public notice, he said. Until recently many children suffering from autism were treated as mentally retarded.

If autistic children were given treatment at a young age the disease might be controlled and the children could lead normal lives, Professor Rendle-Short said. “There are about 300 autistic children in Australia today,” he said, “although the number might be higher be-

cause the disease may not be diagnosed-” Professor Rendle-Short said that autistic children usually spumed any form of affection from their parents. “Even as babies they would cry when cuddled and would stop crying when placed in a room on their own,” he said. Professor Rendle-Short said that research into the causes and means of treatment for autism was being carried out at the Queensland University. Similar research was also being undertaken in London and Los Angeles.