Dawson has broad expertise in research on autism and working to help families cope with disorder

Psychologist Geraldine Dawson, head of the UW’s new Autism Center, is one of the leading researchers of the disorder and a pioneer in the early detection of autism.

Dawson is currently leading two major autism studies funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health.

One project is a $7.3 million interdisciplinary study of autism begun in 1997 to uncover the genetic and neurobiological causes of autism. The project also is developing intervention programs to assist children with the severe developmental disorder. Among the goals of this five-year study are finding the genetic marker or markers for autism and improving detection of the disorder during infancy so children and their families can be helped as soon as possible.

Dawson said the UW research team also hopes to identify behavioral and biological predictors of which children will respond to intervention programs. In addition, the UW researchers are trying to deepen understanding of the neurobiological basis of autism by studying how brain development in autistic children differs from that of normally developing children.

The other study involves scientific trials of the hormone secretin as a possible treatment for autism. The hormone, which some parents of autistic children claim has almost magical properties, is being tested in concurrent trials at the UW and the University of Denver Health Sciences Center. The trials, which began in 1999, are being directed by Dawson and Dr. Alan Unis, a UW associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

Dawson is perhaps best known for her work in the early detection of autism, which affects more than half a million Americans. In 1994, she reported it was possible to detect autism in 1-year-old infants, two to three years earlier than was previously possible. She accomplished this by studying the behaviors of autistic and normal children in home videos shot at their first birthday parties and was able to identify autistic children with 91 percent accuracy.

Dawson is also a strong advocate of early and intensive treatment to help autistic children.

“We have to find and diagnose children with autism very early, while the brain is still plastic and amenable to treatment. In the last five to 10 years science has found that autism is treatable if children can be diagnosed early and given intensive behavioral interventions. A large number of children, but not all, respond dramatically to early treatment,” she said. ¶

Joel Schwarz, News and Information