Can Autism symptoms be detected in the womb?

DIAGNOSING AUTISM FROM THE WOMB? A new study from researchers at the Yale School of Medicine offers a provocative idea: Doctors may be able to predict autism in a baby by testing the placenta at birth. Researchers tested the placentas of 13 children with autism and compared them with placentas from healthy children. They found a microscopic abnormality that was three times as common in children with autism, suggesting a possible way to test for an increased likelihood of autism in new babies. However, such a test remains hypothetical at this point. Next, researchers plan to do a larger study to see whether their results are confirmed in a bigger sample of children. These results were published this week in Biological Psychiatry.