Back in March a parent of one of my students (I actually had two of her daughters AND she went to Baylor, just like me!) sent me an email that she got from Wash U. It was for a research study on infants at risk for autism. Now, Will IS NOT at risk for autism, however the study called for infants under the age of 6 months with an older sibling that has autism. Nathan DOES NOT have autism. I knew she knew this and that the reason she was sending it to me was to see if I was interested in them serving as part of the control group for the study. As a teacher, autism is something that affects me because I have had students with autism. This past year I think I had somewhere between 6 and 10 students with autism or Asperger's Syndrome. I called to find out more about the study and what it would entail. It included a lot of phone interviews (family health history, questions about Nathan and Will, many developmental interviews on Will-similar to the ones we do with Parents as Teachers), behavioral studies (done the day before each MRI), and 4 MRI's. The MRI's are scheduled at 6 months, 1 year, 18 months, and 2 years. The kicker? Will has to sleep through them! At first I was concerned about the effects of the MRI on Will, but after consulting with our Ped. and many other doctors and nurses, I felt comfortable with the procedure. The thing I was more concerned about was him sleeping through the MRI! There are three scans that take about 42 minutes total. They sent us a CD of the MRI sounds and earplugs to put in his ears each night as he falls asleep to get used to the sound and feeling of earplugs. We did that the last 10 nights before his scan.
We had our first behavior study and MRI on July 15th. The behavior study was at 10:00 a.m. and then we had to go back that evening, around 8:30, so that Will could do the MRI. I got him to sleep around 9:00 p.m. but true to Will form, when I tried to lay him down, he woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep. To his credit, it is extremely cold in the room and loud!!! I finally got him to sleep around 9:50 and they started the MRI about 10:15. We were home by midnight! I figured we wouldn't be home until after 1:00 a.m. Will slept through the MRI scans, except he woke up the last 5 minutes of the last one, but they told us we could go ahead and stop, that the last few minutes weren't absolutely necessary.
More on the study. Wash U is participating in this research study along with other universities around the country to "investigate how brain structure and function differ in typically developing children from those with developmental disabilities in terms of both the structure of the brain and how the brain works. The information [they] collect will help [them] to understand the underlying neurobiology associated with early brain development associated with early brain development in infants at increased risk for autism." It is funded by the NIH (National Institute of Health) and includes 650 infants and toddlers around the country. Wash U is providing information from 166 subjects.
The cause of autism is unknown, but they are getting closer to figuring out what causes it. The researchers involved in the study are already publishing papers on small parts of the study. When we went for Will's behavior study on the 15th the behavior analyst shared a little with me about what they have already learned. I am excited to hear more about what they have learned when we go back in 6 months...hopefully Will will sleep through that scan, too!
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