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Learn the Early Warning Signs
Children who are diagnosed and get therapy early, before three years of age, make better, faster progress.
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Take Action if You are Concerned
Don't wait and see. Autism can be detected by 18 months or sooner.
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Know the Therapies that Work Best
Intensive therapy, when started early while the brain is still developing, sometimes changes a life course.
Explore the Video Room
Welcome to Well Child Lens
It started with an idea: that the power of video would help clarify the subtle early warning signs of an autism spectrum disorder in toddlers. To transform this idea into reality, GeneticaLens brought together the leading experts in the early detection of autism in toddlers with a team of filmmakers, writers, editors, web programmers and developers. Together, we created Well Child Lens.
With over 500 hours of videos of children ages birth to 3 years of age, Well Child Lens enables everyone concerned about autism – parents, pediatric healthcare providers, special education teachers, researchers, therapists and others – to see what these early warning signs look like and to learn about the therapies that can change a child’s life.
We also know that parents and doctors have special needs when it comes to autism and young children. So Well Child Lens created tools just for them. Parents and caregivers can start a membership to use specialty features that are targeted to their child's age. Pediatric healthcare providers can register to gain access to our CMEs and our pediatric toolkit for the screening and surveillance of autism in children 16 to 30 months of age.
Why is this important? Because the newest research confirms what many parents have always known, that beginning intensive treatment as early as possible can often reduce the severity of autism’s lifelong symptoms. So let's get started - our efforts will help our children get the best possible start in life!
View our Video Courses on the Signs and the Therapies.
See the early warning signs by viewing our hour-long course, "Detecting Autism at an Early Age," that shows both typically developing toddlers and toddlers with autism so you can compare the subtle differences and really begin to notice the signs. In the second course, "Therapies for Young Children with Autism," you can observe in action the major early intervention therapies and see the impact of therapy through several children filmed over time.
Joint Attention
Learn the Milestones of Early Development
Knowing the behaviors to expect from a child as s/he grows from a baby to a toddler is the best way to pick up developmental delays and possible autism.
View short videos of children 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months old exhibiting the cognitive, language, movement, and social and emotional milestones of that age.
Edward's 4 month exam
See the Warning Signs
Learn more about the warning signs. Some are "negative" symptoms – a lack of social interaction and communication such as not making eye contact and not engaging in pretend play. Some are "positive" – the presence of restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior or interests such as making finger movements near the eyes or looking fixedly at sparkly lights or ceiling fans.
Twins Playing with Mom
Follow Four Toddlers through the Diagnostic Process
Follow Gregory, Nathan, and twins Ethan and Evan, along with their parents, as they move through the evaluations and interviews performed by autism experts. A variety of video clips show the diagnostic tools and how psychologists, developmental pediatricians, and psychiatrists use them to evaluate children for an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Nathan Wants Toy Frog
Early Therapies, Better Outcomes
Explore the early intervention therapies for young children with autism, related therapies like speech, occupational and physical therapy, and parents doing therapy with their children. Learn which therapies have been clinically validated. The videos show many children in therapy – all under five years old but at different levels of severity – and how they respond and progress.
Early Therapies
Experts at your Fingertips
Get your questions answered. Select from 88 interviews with autism experts, pediatricians, parents, and early intervention therapists on topics such as the difference between a speech delay and autism, different levels of severity, the importance of early intervention, why more boys than girls have autism, new research on the genetic causes, the importance of a dialogue between parents and pediatricians, and the phenomenon of regression.
Importance of Intensive Behavioral Therapies
"Therapy is absolutely essential for children with Autism...[and] it's essential to get started as soon as possible. The earlier you get started with therapy, the more leverage you have. So, it's not like there is a window, and it closes at a certain time, but it's always closing slowly...it never closes all the way. Children can start at age ten, and make progress. But they will never make the progress that they would have made if they had started at two, or three, or four, or even below the age of two...getting started…early is really important."
Deborah Fein, PhD, Scientific Advisor for Well Child Lens, Distinguished Professor, University of Connecticut. Dr. Fein is an expert on understanding and treating Autism Spectrum Disorders and is investigating the phenomenon of "recovery" from autism.
Family Stories: Experience, Support and Advice
Well Child Lens spent time with families of children on the autism spectrum, and they generously shared their joys and struggles. View mini-documentaries portraying family life with a child with ASD. Hear parents talk about the signs they saw or didn't see or denied, the emotion of getting a diagnosis, their ups and downs, and the progress their children have made in therapy.
"I was nervous about admitting that something was wrong with my child." Nadia
"Opening His Eyes to the World:" One Boy's Journey
View a feature length documentary following a boy named Wells from birth, to his diagnosis shortly after the age of 2, through his intensive therapy sessions, and then a day in his life four years later, when he was able to carry on conversations, interact easily with adults, and play with other children. The story is narrated by his father.
Seeing and Interpreting Red Flags
The Explore Tool
Our Explore Tool pairs video of the early warning signs and symptoms of autism in toddlers, such as lack of eye contact, with video showing specific therapies designed to treat those symptoms. It will help you better understand the social, emotional and communicative deficits that toddlers with autism face, along with therapies designed to treat those deficits.
Teaching Lucas Emotions
Well Child Lens was created by GeneticaLens, an information services company that specializes in providing quality video documentation of hard-to-diagnose medical and developmental disorders. To develop the videos, GeneticaLens worked with leading ASD experts and developmental pediatricians from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai, Drexel University and the University of Connecticut. It was financed with grants from the National Institutes of Health. Our mission is to use video to help parents of toddlers, pediatric health care providers, and other interested professionals and family members see the signs of ASD at the earliest possible age so that therapies can begin at a time when they are the most effective.
