"A therapy involving video feedback  where parents watch videos of their interactions with their baby  might help prevent infants at risk for autism from developing the disorder a new study suggests. The research involved  families of babies who were at increased risk for autism because they had an older sibling with the condition. Some of the families were assigned to a therapy program in which a therapist used video feedback to help parents understand and respond to their infants individual communication style. The goal of the therapy  delivered over five months while the infants were ages  to  months  was to improve the infants attention communication early language development and social engagement. Other families were assigned to a control group that received no therapy. After five months infants in the families in the video therapy group showed improvements in attention engagement and social behavior according to the study published Jan.  in The Lancet Psychiatry. Using the therapy during the babys first year of life may modify the emergence of autismrelated behaviors and symptoms lead author Jonathan Green a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Manchester in England said in a journal news release. Children with autism typically receive treatment beginning at  to  years old he explained. But our findings suggest that targeting the earliest risk markers of autism  such as lack of attention or reduced social interest or engagement  during the first year of life may lessen the development of these symptoms later on. Two experts agreed that early intervention is key. Research has shown that subtle markers of autism are identifiable in the first year of life explained Dr. Ron Marino associate chair of pediatrics at WinthropUniversity Hospital in Mineola N.Y. Video feedback seems like a natural and potentially very potent extension of intervention when it can be most effective he added. Dr. Andrew Adesman is chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Cohen Childrens Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park N.Y. He was cautiously optimistic about the promise of the video feedback approach. Although it would be wonderful if a relatively simple videobased intervention could reduce the recurrence risk of autism spectrum disorder in later offspring further studies are needed to examine this very issue he said. Those studies will need to include a larger more diverse sample population and need to look at developmental outcomes over a much longer period of time. More information The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about autism http_autism.htm. SOURCES Ron Marino D.O. associate chair of pediatrics WinthropUniversity Hospital Mineola N.Y. Andrew Adesman chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics Cohen Childrens Medical Center of New York New Hyde Park N.Y. The Lancet Psychiatry news release Jan."