[Source:  Disability Scoop]

Training primary care providers to accurately diagnose autism is yielding big dividends, researchers say, allowing children on the spectrum to be identified and start treatment far sooner.

Through a combination of in-person sessions and remote, video-based coaching over the course of a year, 18 primary care providers working across the state of Missouri learned to diagnose and treat autism.

The training was provided through a program known as ECHO Autism that connected pediatricians, family physicians and other primary care providers with a variety of autism experts including a clinical psychologist, a social worker, a dietician, a psychiatrist, a parent and a pediatrician specializing in the developmental disorder.

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