'Name test' could point to disorder

One-year-old infants who show no response when their name is called could be autistic, according to new US research. Researchers from the University of California Davis, Sacramento, spent two years monitoring a high-risk group of children whose older siblings had autism against a control group. Three-quarters of the babies who did not respond to their name at 12 months were identified with developmental problems at the age of two years. Ninety-four per cent of those who had no developmental delays at two years had passed the 'name test', compared with only 50 per cent who were later diagnosed with autism.