Autism in Newborns, Can Be Detected Through a Hearing Test

Researchers from the University of Miami and Harvard Medical School explore responses to the standard hearing test used in millions of newborn infants worldwide and are closing in on the way in detecting early indicators of autism as early as their birth.

Autism Treatment Center of America said that autism is an inescapable developing disorder that becomes ostensible in early childhood and distresses all aspects of a child's development. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about one in fifty-four children has autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

(Photo: Samuel Lee )

According to a release by the University of Miami, the findings can inform additional studies and make way for the evaluations that can better recognize newborns with autism risk through standard hearing tests. The researchers added that the tests are regularly and widely utilized in screening newborns for hearing loss. The release further said that the tests function by measuring auditory brainstem response (ABR), which is used as a device to figure out how well an infant's inner ear and brain respond to the sound.

Co-author of the study and College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Psychology associate professor, Elizabeth Simpson, Ph.D., said that they are not yet at the point where they are going to propose clinicians in using ABR testing in determining autism in infants. However, she added that the study presents a promising direction in how auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing can be used to precisely detect autism detection at birth. The main author of the research and research associate from the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School, Oren Miron, M.S. said that the importance of identifying autism early during infant and child development when interventions can have the most impact, cannot be exaggerated. He added that any additional tool that could clarify diagnostic clues would be invaluable in that regard.

Method of the Study

University of Miami's release said that large datasets of infants from Florida screened for hearing impairments with ABR tests underwent analysis by the researchers. The test typically conducted in maternity wards makes computer recording of the auditory nerve activity of the infants who are exposed to sounds transmitted by electrodes positioned on their scalp. The recordings are matched from the Florida Department of Education's data records, showing children with developmental disabilities.

According to Dr. Simpsons, they knew that autism spectrum disorder is associated with how children process sound. Even though the child's hearing is normal, the sound can still be processed differently. She added that with a better understanding of how ABR Testing can be used in identifying at-risk infants.

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What is ABR testing?

According to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), the auditory brainstem response (ABR) test measures the reaction of the parts of a child's nervous system that affects hearing. They added that it is often ordered to be done if a newborn fails the hearing screening test done in the hospital shortly after birth, or for older children if he/she is suspected of hearing loss after a series of hearing tests.

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