(Image Source: San Diego Union-Tribune)

BY TRACY PFEIFFER

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

You're watching multisource health video news analysis from Newsy.

Five minutes and a simple checklist might be all it takes for parents to screen for signs of autism -- in children just celebrating their first birthday.

“Researchers at UCSD say a questionnaire that parents fill out five minutes in a pediatrician’s waiting room prior to their baby’s one-year checkup might be able to pinpoint at-risk babies. The average age of diagnosing autism is currently five, but researchers hope that an earlier diagnosis could lead to early therapy and lessening of symptoms.” (HealthKey)

With this test, a failing score would mean a child is at-risk for autism or other developmental disorders. Researchers screened nearly 10,500 infants in cooperation with parents and pediatricians -- and The Wall Street Journal has the results.

“184 scored lower than expected and were referred for further evaluation and tracked for up to three years. Ultimately, 32 of them were diagnosed with an autism-spectrum disorder, while an additional 101 were determined to have a language or developmental delay or a related condition.”

Doctors have previously struggled to pinpoint signs of autism and autism spectrum disorders in children so young, meaning they might be missing out on important treatment or therapy -- so what did this study look for? WABC medical reporter Dr. Jay Adlersberg explains.

Dr. JAY ADLERSBERG, EYEWITNESS NEWS: “The early warning signs at age one have to do with baby’s repetitive behavior during play, how they make adults objects of interest, and how they show shared enjoyment. Sensitivity the environment could be another one.”

A medical specialist for Canada’s CBC says, what’s interesting about the study is not the questionnaire itself, but the systematic nature of diagnosis -- something that’s never happened with autism or related disorders before.

Dr. KARL KABASELE, CBC MEDICAL SPECIALIST: “So the actual questionnaire that they used is not new. But what is new is that they got this group of pediatricians in multiple offices to all administer the questionnaire for these children who are twelve months old, and that’s really, sort of, what is needed -- is a greater effort catch these cases early, because if you do, and if you can treat them earlier, they tend to do better down the road.”

Finally, a writer for PBS highlights one shortfall from the study, which was that researchers did not follow up on children who passed to see if they experienced any developmental issues later on.  The chief science officer of Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization, says...

"’It will be important for pediatricians, when they use the screeners, to repeat them at 18 to 24 months of age, since some children don't develop symptoms until then’ …About 25 percent of children with autism start developing normally, and then sometime after 18 months, lose their skills or regress.”

A few words of caution -- The study’s researchers say, the test only red flagged about half the number of children with autism expected from a pool of 10,000 -- and WABC reports, about 25 percent of children who failed the screening were false positives.

'Like Newsy' on Facebook for video news updates in your feed. 

Get more multisource health video news analysis from Newsy.

Transcript by Newsy.