Watch as licensed psychologist and autism specialist Dr. Ronald Leaf explains why an early diagnosis of autism can be critical.
Early diagnosis is critical so children can receive the treatment as soon as possible. We know the earlier children receive treatment, the better the results are going to be, which stands to reason, whenever you treat any disorder whether it's medical, or psychological earlier intervention is critical.
The reasons in autism is that patterns are formed. The longer you wait the more the pattern exists and the harder it is to work with. It's not that we can't treat adults because we do, but I'd rather treat an adolescent than an adult, and I'd rather treat a child than an adolescent, and moving forward.
So the earlier we can detect it, the earlier we can treat it, the better the outcome is going to be.
Ronald Leaf, PhD, is a licensed psychologist who has over 30 years of experience in the field of autism. He is co-author of A Work in Progress, a manual on behavioral treatment of autism.
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