Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Australian researchers say a new form of therapy for babies showing early signs of autism can reduce the likelihood of a diagnosis by two-thirds.
The therapy, known as iBASIS–Video Interaction to Promote Positive Parenting (iBASIS-VIPP), involves videotaping everyday interactions between the parents and their baby who is between the age of nine and 14 months.
The family then participates in 10 sessions with a trained therapist over a five-month period, who provides feedback to the parents based on the content of the videos and helps guide parents to build social engagement and communication with their baby.
"What this therapy does is help parents understand all the unique ways that their babies are communicating with them with their body language, with their facial expressions, with vocal expressions that aren't necessarily words," said lead researcher Andrew Whitehouse in an interview with CTV News.
Whitehouse, who is a professor of autism research at the University of Western Australia, says the therapy is "quite different" from existing interventions, which generally aim to make the children display more typical behaviours.
"This is quite different. This therapy looks to understand and nurture the unique differences of babies, and support them," said Whitehouse.
While autism diagnoses typically happen at the age of three, signs of autism can start as early as six months of age. These signs include poor eye contact, lack of imitation and less smiling.
"When you see a whole collection of these behaviours together, we start to say, 'Maybe this baby's developing a bit differently,'" Whitehouse said.
Whitehouse and his colleagues published their findings in the journal JAMA Pediatrics on Monday. The study involved a cohort of 171 infants aged nine to 14 months and their families. The researchers identified 103 babies who were starting to show early signs of autism.
In a randomized trial, half of the babies showing early autism signs were assigned to receive the new iBASIS-VIPP therapy while the other half only received the usual care. The researchers followed up with the children until they were three years of age.
Only seven per cent of the infants receiving the iBASIS-VIPP therapy were diagnosed with autism, compared to 21 per cent of children who received standard care. Babies receiving iBASIS-VIPP were also found to have reduced signs of autism.
Whitehouse called it an "exciting finding."
"It was one of those moments where you sort of push your chair away from the computer and start shaking," he said. "We have long thought that if we can support early development from the very earliest moments of life, we can change lifelong trajectories."
Australian mom Alianna Celisano and her 11-month-old daughter Angelina were one of the families involved in the study. Celisano had noticed that her daughter was avoiding eye contact, an early sign of potential autism. Angelina also has a sibling on the autism spectrum, which is another risk factor for autism.
"It really enriched our entire bond, actually. The entire experience was phenomenal, one I'll take with me for life," Celisano told CTV News.
"It really helped me tune in very, very closely with her and be able to recognize even the tiniest little cues, which were just very, very powerful," she added.
Dalhousie University pediatrics professor Dr. Isabel M. Smith, who was not involved in the research, calls the findings "impressive." While other studies have looked into similar interventions for children with autism, Smith says this is the first one to involve children this young.
"It's really fantastic that we now have ways of intervening so early, and setting these kids on the right track," Smith, who is also the Joan and Jack Craig Chair in Autism Research, told CTV News. "Giving parents the skills to do that is just huge, and it makes a difference for kids."
Whitehouse says he and his team will be following up with the children who participated in the study all the way up to age seven, at which point they'll be reassessed. He also plans to develop training programs to ensure that anyone around the world can access iBASIS-VIPP.
"This is the first time anywhere in the world that we can actually reduce difficulties and promote development to the point that we're reducing the likelihood the kids receive a diagnosis. That's a really important milestone in autism research and we really hope that it creates significant benefits around the world," he said.
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
Spanish state prosecutors recommended Wednesday that an investigating judge shelve a probe into another alleged case of tax fraud by pop star Shakira.
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The Israeli military said Wednesday that it has reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza, a key terminal for the entry of humanitarian aid that was closed over the weekend after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers nearby.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.