Early screening for autism spectrum disorders: update on the modified checklist for autism in toddlers and other measures.

Full Abstract

Early intervention for autism spectrum disorders necessitates early detection. This need has led to widespread agreement across disciplines that screening is critical in very young children. Two screening issues are highlighted in this review. Level of screening refers to the type of sample:
Level I is defined as an unselected sample, and Level II consists of selected children already identified as being at risk for a developmental disorder. Breadth or scope of screening refers to the range of difficulties the screening tool attempts to identify:
broad screening instruments identify multiple range of developmental difficulties, whereas disorder-specific tools focus on a single disorder or class of disorders. Broad developmental instruments reviewed include the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status and the Ages and Stages Questionnaires; autism-specific tools reviewed include the Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT), the Pervasive Developmental Disorders Screening Test, Second Edition, and the Screening Tool for Autism in Two-year-olds. The development of the M-CHAT, a Level I and Level II screening instrument, is described, and current research and clinical use of the M-CHAT are reviewed, including description of the structured follow-up interview which reduces the false-positive rate of the parent-report M-CHAT.

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Author information

Author/s: Robins, Diana L (DL); Dumont-Mathieu, Thyde M (TM);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA. drobins(-atsign-)gsu.edu

Grants: 5 R01 HD039961-04 (Agency:NICHD NIH HHS) ; 5 R40 MC00270-04 (Agency:PHS HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Journal: Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP (J Dev Behav Pediatr), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Apr; vol 27 (issue 2 Suppl) : pp S111-9

Dates: Created 2006/05/10; Completed 2006/10/25; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 16685177, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Autistic Disorder - classification; diagnosis
Child, Preschool
Developmental Disabilities - classification; diagnosis
Diagnosis, Differential
Humans

Humans
Infant
Mass Screening - methods
Neurology
Pediatrics

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