Parents of children with autism and professionals who work with children can hear the latest on research, treatment and strategies at United Service's autism information fair, scheduled from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 6 in the Community Commons at Spencer Road Library, 427 Spencer Road in St. Peters.
Physicans and researchers from Washington University School of Medicine, Mercy Children's Hospital and SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center will host breakout sessions to bring the community up to speed on thelatestfindings from the field.
"More children are being diagnosed with this, and it's a lifelong condition. There's so much we need to learn about how the condition works and how to make their livers better," said Natasha Marrus, an instructor andresearcherin the Division ofChildand Adolescent Psychiatry at WashingtonUniversitySchool of Medicine.
Until recently, the Centers for Disease Control reported that one in 88 children were diagnosed with autism. A phone survey of 95,000 parents released by the CDC in March found as many as one in 50 children could be affected by autism. Marrus said prevalence has been on the rise for decades, much of that due to better diagnostic techniques.
"It's not clear if it can account for all of it," she said.
Marrus and John Constantino, who is a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics and director of the William Greenlead EliotDivisionof Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at WashingtonUniversity'smedical school, willdiscuss opportunities for area families to join studies to help researchers get a better idea of what can account for the increased prevalence.
Marrus said WashingtonUniversitywill be looking into howautisticsymptomsdevelop over time and what genetic factors are involved.
"Ithinkthe field has come to the understanding that there isn't going to be one gene, onethingthat reallycauses(autism)," she said.
She said research instead points to a combination of multiple issues in brain development that can come together to create problems.
While the exact cause of autism remains a mystery, doctors are getting closer to determining if it is genetic. Rolanda Maxim,divisiondirector of developmental pediatrics and medical director of the Missouri AutismCenterat Cardinal Glennon, will discuss a new genetic screening offered at the medical center that predicts the risk that full, biological siblings of a child with autism will also develop autism.
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United Services to host autism fair in St. Peters