As many of you know, as the mother of two autistic boys, the subject of
autism and breastfeeding is one near and dear to my heart.  I am in the
process of putting the finishing touches on a paper on the subject that will
be submitted for publication soon.  But in the meantime, I have presented it
locally.  My experience has been that a lot of people, including myself,
think Gonneke and Catherine are definitely on the right track.  My paper
focuses on raising awareness of the major diagnostic criteria for autism and
how they directly relate to problems with infant feeding--both breast and
bottle.

In my view, it is tragic that the evaluation tools used to diagnose autism
spectrum disorder focus on children who are at least 2-3 years of age.  Many
times, diagnoses occur even later.  None of the tools include feeding
problems as a factor in determining a diagnosis.  The importance of early
invention cannot be underestimated, and unfortunately the later the child
receives a diagnosis, the less optimistic one can be for a good/better
outcome.  Of course, not every child with a feeding problem goes on to be
diagnosed with ASD, developmental delays or other disabilities.  The point
is, for families at risk, early identification of children likely to develop
ASD is vital.

Despite its flaws, my survey data shows a definitive link between infant
feeding problems and later diagnoses of ASD.  I want to encourage those in
the autism and lactation fields, as well as our colleagues in the OT and SLP
professions, to work more in cooperation to identify children at risk of
autism as soon as birth.  There is research out there that indicates some
children are identifiable as early as 8 months; I believe with education, we
could identify these children even earlier.  Now. . .on to finding someone
who will publish my theories!

Here's the abstract of the presentation, FYI:

"Recognizing the Signs of Autism in the Young Child:  Infant Behavior,
Feeding Problems and Later Diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder"

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a group of lifelong behavioral and
information processing disorders characterized by deficits in social
interaction, language, communication and play skills, and repetitive behavior
problems.  It occurs as frequently as 1/100 live births.  Behaviors and
symptoms considered in the diagnosis of ASD also relate to or are indicative
of feeding problems in infants.  This presentation discusses the possible
relationship between infant feeding problems (both at breast and
artificially), problematic infant behavior, and diagnoses of ASD later in
childhood.  Survey data is presented, and the need for more interdisciplinary
research is discussed.

Key words:  autism, breastfeeding, sensory integration, infant feeding
problems

Barbara Ash, IBCLC
Canberra, Australia

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