Progress made on treating autism

NEW measures aiming to detect autism in French children from as young as 18 months have been unveiled by the government - amid complaints from parents that France has not treated the condition correctly in the past.

The minister for the disabled, Marie-Arlette Carlotti, said in a newspaper interview that a new autism plan for 2014-2017 would mean earlier diagnosis and the use of educational and behavioural approaches instead of the use of psychoanalysis to treat the disorder.

It comes after a victory for families of children with autism last year, when the High Health Authority (HAS) recommended for the first time the use of methods are based on repetition and developing methods of communication with the child through techniques other than language such as pictures and gestures.

Thousands of families have struggled for months or even years with their children in psychiatric hospitals or with psychiatrists, complaining that their children were kept in a state of "psychosis" and were not taught how to communicate. Those who refused to enter their child into the psychiatric facility were often sued for neglect.

Carlotti told Le Parisien: "We know that the sooner it is diagnosed, the better it can be treated." The improved checks for signs of autism will be introduced from early 2015 and the total budget for the move is €205.5million.

She also announced the creation of 700 nursery school places specifically for autistic children and training for 5,000 childcare professionals and social workers in how best to teach children with the disorder.

Up to 600,000 people in France are estimated to have some form of autism - and France has been accused by some critics of being several decades behind in its treatment.

Carlotti added: "Enough is enough. For the past 40 years in France, the psychoanalytical approach has prevailed. It is time to give room to other methods for a simple reason: they have been proven to work and are recommended by the health authorities."