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ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 14 (UPI) — U.S. researchers say they are beginning to detect behaviors and symptoms of autism that may make earlier diagnosis — and intervention — possible.

Brooke Ingersoll of Michigan State University said autism is normally diagnosed between ages 2 and 3, but if physicians could detect autism spectrum disorders in babies as young as 12 months, it might be possible to help them earlier — and perhaps even stop them from developing autism.

“In the field, there’s this new excitement,” Ingersoll said in a statement. “We’re starting to get a picture of what autism looks like in the first years of life.”

Results are coming from studies that tracked large numbers of children ages 6 months to 3 years, when a formal diagnosis of autism could be determined, Ingersoll said.

“The group of children that eventually develop autism spectrum disorders looks different from typically-developing kids,” Ingersoll said.

For example, at 12 months, children who will later develop autism are less likely to show “joint attention behaviors” paying attention to both a toy and another person, Ingersoll said.

If young children have problems with social behaviors, it may then explain some of the later problems in autism. for example, if they don’t imitate, that could help explain why they have difficulty with language later, Ingersoll said.

The findings are published in the Current Directions in Psychological Science.

What's the longest time for there to be noticeable symptoms of any bacterial STD from the time of the infection? Basically how long does it take for someone to realize they have a Bacterial STD from the time of infection, so much so they could notify their sexual partner.

If it differs for curtain people I would also like to know why.

Many STDs can stay dormant in your system for months or years without showing any symptoms.

Anywhere from a two days to a month to show signs, if you're paying attention. I am convinced that people who go for months and years with STD's are not very clean nor are they paying attention to their bodies.

What else can be symptoms too? Like fever or what?

That same exact thing was happening to me just a few months ago. they were really really sharp pains in the head near the forehead that made you stop for a second they were so strong right? well if they were i went to the doctor and my doctor told me that it was really stress related and it could also have to do with sinus a little bit but more of stress. and she told me to just practice sitting down and paying attention to the expression i was making on my face and to make sure it was relaxed. and as for the ear thing thats probably more related to the sinus than anything else. yeah i would say the ear pain is sharp sinus pressure. :] hope that helped.

Yes it can, and eye pain.

Schizophrenia currently affects more than 2 million people in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health website. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Community Mental Health Center of Lancaster County hope to improve early care for people diagnosed with schizophrenia by participating in a treatment study designed by NIMH.

The center will be just one of 35 locations nationwide to host NIMH’s Recovery after an Initial Schizophrenia Episode Early Treatment Project (RAISE ETP).

Mary Sullivan, director of RAISE ETP in Lincoln, stressed the importance of early treatment.

“Many people, when they start experiencing the symptoms (of schizophrenia), don’t go for treatment or help for over a year,” she said.

Doctors categorize symptoms into positive, negative and cognitive, according to NIMH. They include hallucinations, movement disorders, thought disorders, little interaction, problems focusing or paying attention and working memory problems.

Schizophrenia often shows up between the ages of 19 and 21.

“The role of UNL and the center is to be a community-based site for the study,” said Travis Parker, deputy director of the Community Mental Health Center of Lancaster County.

“We’re hoping what the outcomes of this study will demonstrate is that for people with schizophrenia, receiving treatment in a timely manner will decrease negative outcomes and improve the quality of life for the individual,” he said.

The center was created about 40 years ago. Parker estimated it helps about 6,000 people a year, 10 percent of whom deal with a disorder related to schizophrenia.

“It’s often a troubling and confusing time in that person’s life,” he said. “It can take a long time before that person or a person in their life decides they need help.”

Sullivan noted that Lincoln was considered for the project due to UNL’s psychology department and a well-respected lab for serious mental illnesses. The university formed the serious Mental Illness Research Group in the 1980s, currently led by Will Spaulding, a professor of psychology.

“Lincoln was chosen as a site for RAISE ETP based, in part, on the fine working relationship between the psychology department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Community Mental Health Center of Lancaster County,” Sullivan said.

Participants of the study volunteer to be assessed and receive individual treatment based on their strengths and specific problem areas.

The goal of the project is to get people the help they need as soon as possible and decrease the stigma associated with having a mental disorder, according to Sullivan.

“The RAISE Project will help people build on their strengths and the special assessments will help us focus on specific problem areas,” she said.