Early identification

Challenge Imagine worrying that something is not quite right with the way your infant is communicating or being told in preschool that your child has a significant speech delay. Next, imagine being on a waitlist for more than a year, and watching your child fall further behind in their language skills. Sadly, such stories [...]

Challenge Doctors should ideally diagnose cerebral palsy (CP) before a baby’s first birthday, according to international guidelines. This way, the child can access early interventions that will help them reach their fullest potential for movement and function. However, the average age for a CP diagnosis in Canada is 18.9 months, and treatment doesn’t always [...]

Challenge Identifying children who are at risk of FASD early on can be challenging. Often receiving a formal diagnosis requires confirmation of prenatal alcohol exposure, which isn’t always possible. The current FASD diagnostic assessment process also typically happens once a child is school-aged because existing tools lack the sensitivity to identify young children and infants. [...]

Challenge When it comes to neurodevelopmental disabilities, early diagnosis is critical so that children can access supports and interventions early on. For cerebral palsy (CP), it is generally recommended that children be diagnosed as early as possible. Using new tools, in many cases this is potentially feasible by primary care physicians before infants with CP [...]

Challenge There are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to FASD. First, the disorder presents in many different ways. It also remains unclear exactly how alcohol is impacting the brain and what factors contribute to its impact. Project Summary The Canada FASD Research Network National Dataform Project—a comprehensive database of individuals living with [...]

Challenge A gap exists in policy and practice within child welfare systems, where infants in care are at risk for developmental delays and mental health issues. A screening and intervention program for these children is aiming to change the standard of care for this at-risk population. Project Summary The screening program targeted infants aged 0 [...]

Challenge The process of receiving an FASD diagnosis is costly and time-consuming—it requires a multidisciplinary team and several days of testing. Many children are not diagnosed until they are school-aged, despite strong evidence that early intervention (less than three years old) can help improve long-term outcomes. Finding a way to assess and identify children before [...]

Challenge Children often wait a long time for an FASD assessment, which means it takes longer for them to access supports. A team led by Dr. James Reynolds (Queen’s University) is working to develop an assessment tool based on eye movements that could screen children for FASD so that interventions can be accessed sooner. Project [...]

Challenge Children on the autism spectrum commonly face learning and attention challenges, but the relationships between these deficits and ASD’s core impairments are poorly understood. If we knew more about the predictors of learning and attention disorders in people with ASD, we would gain a better idea of why they arise and how to help [...]

Challenge Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have long noticed that ASD aggregates within families, but may manifest differently amongst siblings. Researchers wondered how and why this occurred. Project Summary The team set out to examine gene-behaviour relationships of newly diagnosed children with ASD. The team hypothesized that multifactorial causes of ASD are [...]