Q: My nephew who is 6 years old has been diagnosed with autism. Reason was that at the time of his birth he was not given required oxygen and he was sent to a different hospital and was kept in incubator for 15 days. His development started late. Doctors would say that his will be late in doing activities. But till date his is unable to speak or behave normally. He can understand some commands. If his brain is damaged can an MRI scan be helpful? His EEG is normal. What other medication needs to be provided?

A:I was sorry to hear that your nephew has autism. He needs an assessment by a child psychiatrist. MRI can provide very good imaging of the brain but is not essential. It does show findings which are characteristic of autism and should exclude other conditions.