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HEALTH CARE HEROES » FEBRUARY 23, 2015 » INSIDE BUSINESS » H37

PHYSICIAN SPECIALIST - PSYCHIATRIST Maria R. Urbano, MD, FAPA Professor, EVMS Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Co-Director, EVMS Autism Spectrum Disorders Program

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ne of the many positive effects of increased awareness of autism spectrum disorders in recent years has been earlier diagnosis for many of the children who suffer from them.

Just a couple of years ago, the average age of diagnosis was 6 in the state of Virginia, said Dr. Maria Urbano, a psychiatrist and professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk who specializes in treating people with autism spectrum disorder.

These days the average age is probably more like 3 or less, she said.

An early diagnosis is important because the earlier treatment begins, the more effective it will be and the better the child will be able to function in daily life, Urbano said.

“If you start treatment early enough you can actually change the function of the brain to greatly impact and improve future progress,” she said.

While all the possibilities that exist with early intervention and treatment are exciting, Urbano has chosen instead to devote her work with ASD patients to the ones often for-

gotten – older adolescents and young adults.

“I saw that we really didn’t have any consolidated services for the older adolescent age group in our area,” she said. “There was definitely a need there.”

Most of the ASD patients that Urbano works with are between the ages of 16 and 25. Their abilities and needs vary greatly, from those who require help with basic life skills such as getting dressed by themselves, to college students with IQs of 150 or more who struggle with things like social skills and organization.

Urbano estimates she has worked with about 400 older adolescents and young adults with ASD since she became co-director of the Autism Spectrum Disorders Program at EVMS in 2010.

Dr. Kathrin Hartmann serves as the other co-director. She and two other child psychiatrists in the de-

HARRY GERWIEN

partment evaluate and treat the patients younger than 16.

Urbano’ s ASD patients get a lot more than just an hour of her time each week, said Dan Shuman, assistant director of marketing and communication for EVMS. “Dr. Urbano has built a network of community resources where patients can find help with non-medical needs such as social skills and driving,” Shuman said.

“This allows the EVMS program to serve as a clearinghouse of ASD resources,” he said. “When patients

enter the EVMS program, they tap into a network of providers and services.”

Some of the most common referrals are for things like psychotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy in the community.

Research and education are other important parts of the Autism Spectrum Disorders program at EVMS. Urbano and her colleague, Dr. Stephen Deutsch, who was instrumental in starting the program at EVMS, have a study that will be published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience in April. In it, they explain the results of their experiment with D-cycloserine, a drug that once was used to treat tuberculosis that they have been administering to young adults with ASD. Deutsch first tested the drug on mice that were specifically bred to have the traits found in people with autism. The “autism mice,” went from running from the “normal mice” to interacting with them while on the drug. Improvements in social skills were also observed when the drug was administered to IB young adults, Urbano said.

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