HP_041918

12 | April 19, 2018 | The highland park landmark News
hplandmark.com
Highland Park resident named honorary chairman at Rush fundraiser
Hilary Anderson
Freelance Reporter
Like many medical conditions,
autism is most effectively
treated when diagnosed
early on.
“The sooner an undiagnosed
child receives an
autism diagnosis and assessment,
the sooner intervention
can begin and
the better the possible
outcome,” said Dr. Louis
Kraus, long-time Highland
Park resident and chief of
children and adolescent
psychiatry at Rush University
Medical Center. Kraus
is also founding director
of the Autism Assessment
Research Treatment Service
Center (AARTS) at
Rush.
Kraus is the honorary
chairman of the upcoming
Rush Associates Board
11th annual Casino Night
at 6:30 p.m. May 4 at the
Geraghty, 2520 S. Hoyne
Ave., Chicago.
The AARTS program
and services at the Rush
University Medical Center
will receive the funds
raised by the event.
“Autism can be diagnosed
in a child as young
as 2 or 3 years old — preschool
age. Usually parents
can detect something
is not right as early as 18
months, for instance when
a child seems to lack the
language abilities other
youngsters around them
have,” Kraus said.
“It cannot be emphasized
enough the sooner
an autism diagnosis and
assessment are made in a
youngster, the sooner professionals
can start treating
the individual and working
with the family and the
child’s school.”
Want to know more?
• Information about Rush University Medical
Center’s AARTS programs or participation in autism
research studies or the SPARK research program
is available at: www.rush.edu/autism, (312) 942-
0819 or SPARK@rush.edu, (312) 563-2765 and on
Facebook.
• Tickets for the Rush Associates Board 11th
Annual Casino Night fundraiser at 6:30 p.m. May 4
at Geraghty, 2520 S. Hoyne, Chicago are available
at rush.edu/casinonight
Kraus said while the
diagnosis of autism is not
always easy, the incidence
of it is increasing.
The Center for Disease
Control and Prevention
estimates one in every
68 children in the United
States is affected by the
autism spectrum disorder,
up from one in 150 in the
year 2000.
“Autism is a neurodevelopmental
disorder,” Kraus
said, who also serves as
the medical director of
Easter Seals Therapeutic
Day School in Chicago
and Tinley Park. “We
know for certain there are
some genetic components
to it. There may be environmental
or other factors
as well,” he said.
Kraus and his staff currently
are involved in innovative
research, serving
as the Chicago site for the
Dr. Louis Kraus (left) and Autism Assessment Research
Treatment Service Operations Manager Sophia Martinez
at an event. Photo submitted
largest autism study ever
undertaken in the U.S.
The initiative, called
SPARK, is seeking 50,000
families with a loved one
on the autism spectrum to
contribute DNA samples
for analysis.
SPARK researchers
have identified an estimated
50 genes they say
almost certainly play a role
in the development of autism.
As the study continues,
Kraus and the members
of his AARTS staff expect
to identify hundreds more
genes associated with the
condition.
Please see AARTS, 15
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