New Study Shows Possible Biomarkers for Autism at 6 months

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I posted thislink in the News section already, but I am curious if any parents would try to have an MRI ordered for a 6 month old infant. I'm also curious about how difficult it would be to obtain said MRI, and have it interpreted. I assume it would all have to be out-of-pocket?

I wouldn't for several reason, not in any particular order:

My autistic son was very fussy and going through his claustrophobic phase courtesy of the pediatricians office. (He associated closed spaces with the exam room and with shots, evidently) I can't imagine putting him through an mRI machine. Oh, and he was physically clingy and needed to be on me or held by me a large percent of the time

Insurance would not cover this, as you said, because it is experimental, so mucho expense for...

Questionable benefit: What would I have done with this information at 6 months? I already knew he was late on eye contact, and even if I had no clue, what interventions would be even practical or desirable at this point? The test does not tell you the individual aptitudes and strengths of your little Autie/Aspie. es.

It may be that at some point they find interventions that apply to all spectrum kids, but really you work on what needs to be worked on for your child. A lot of these things need to be worked on for NT kids, too. Aside from using the time to educate yourself on autism and what techniques/services you might need, I don't see the practical application. I guess I could have gotten him some EI, earlier, but that only would have been true if the mRI was accepted as definitive proof. If this is intended for those who already have autistic kids, these parents already know the general drill and have already educated themselves.

MRI's typically take 20 to 30 minutes and sometimes up to an hour so any child would have to be put under for an MRI....not to mention the horrific noises that thing makes. I bring my own ear plugs and hum a lot.....I have had several of them thanks to my bone disease.

You are comparing an exam room to an MRI?
A room is WAAAYYYYY larger than that tube they stuff you in....I started to freak my first one so I have learned to keep my eyes closed. Im kind of curious, how do you know your son has claustrophobia?

That is the point---if he could not stand an exam room, he could not have stood an mRI. I wouldn't haven't wanted him to unnecessarily go under, either.

I knew he was claustrophobic because he would no longer let me close doors in rooms, even with me in them with him, without crying hysterically. He would cry in elevators etc. Any small enclosed space was a major meltdown. He no longer has this problem, but it took a long time. He was like that from about 6 months, actually to about 3 and a half. We handled it on our own and it eventually subsided and went away. It started fading once he got all the school shots and doctor appointments were not associated with vaccines. So my conclusion is that he associated small spaces with shots. I may be wrong--I have been wrong before---but that is what seemed to correlate. He also had a fear of the pediatrician's office for the same assumed reason.

Hmmm, I wonder if this is what happened with my son? We first noticed that he was phobic about elevator doors closing and then thought he had transferred that fear to the doctor's office, but perhaps the office was the original source. He was phobic about elevators for several years. At first we always climbed the stairs, then he got to be able to stand them if one of us held him, and gradually he got to be okay with them. A good thing too, because he's way too heavy to carry.

I can't imagine putting him through an MRI without a tremendously good reason. It would have been enormously difficult and traumatic. And I agree that the information gained likely wouldn't be all that useful.

I was terrified of doctors offices because I had lots of bladder infections and ALWAYS got a shot of antibiotic....it was in the old days, yeah know? Then I went on to become a CNA, a Phlebotimist and a Medical Assistant. I wanted to be a nurse because I had the best nurse in the world once when I was in the hospital for a kidney infection when i was ten. She put my IV in and she was so sweet and talked to me and made little tape rollies to put under the wings on my little butterfly that was at the end of my IV needle. I decided I wanted to be a nurse but after being a MA I decided I could not handle the pressure and stress that went with it. Maybe if I had become a nurse and worked nights at the hospital I would have been ok. Its why I went back to being a Phlebotomist (I did my MA extern as a phlebotomist and I decided its what I liked better). I worked nights at the hospital for a long time then worked as a mobile Phlebotomist but after moving to offices it was the beginning of the end of my career, I can not work in offices. I always played with my kids when I had to draw their blood....in the hospital it was easier because the kids were typically sick and I would give them a empty syringe (no needle of course) to pretend to stick me or their parent to distract them and I used what we called butterfly needles. When I worked for lab corp it was different, these kids would scream bloody murder as soon as they saw me, It made me feel bad, I hated drawing kids. Babies didnt bother me because even though sometimes they would cry, they didnt know what was coming and did not look at me like I was a monster. Some of them were ok if I took off my lab coat but a coworker turned me in for it and I just explained that when kids see white coats it freaks them out but I was told I had to wear it or else I would get written up.....ooooh scrary!
I also had an elevator fear and a fear of the smell of the cologne that my doctor wore if I smelled it on some other guy, and the smell of antiseptic or strong smelling chemicals....crazy that I would grow up and love working in hospitals and I have zero fear of needles now.....when i was ten I had about five spinal taps because before they figured out that I had a bacteria in my kidney my doc swore I had meningitis because I said the light hurt my eyes.....light always hurt my eyes . Maybe that is why I lost my fear and I also, as I said loved not only that one nurse but most of them. They would always bring me popsicles and sit with me in the night when I was scared and rub my back.
I think my fear of elevators was the fact that they went up and down and that freaked me out but I was scared of closets and the dark and some kids locked me and my friend in the science room closet and we both freaked out. We are both aspies (we are still friends) in like sixth or seventh grade....I know it was junior high and we were both sweating and screaming and crying when the teacher let us out, we could hardly stand, I coudnt see, and I dont really remember how we got to the nurse, my teacher had to sort of hold us up, and both of us were sent home. The school nurse said we had some sort of phobia attack.....I think, for me it was the chemical smell and the dark and we both worked each other up into a frenzy. When we were in school ( Im 44 so it was back in the day as I mentioned) kids still got paddled so the boys involved got three swats ....made me feel better .