Background: A significant minority of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are considered "minimally verbal" due to language development stagnating at a few words. Recent developments allow for the severity of ASD symptoms to be examined using Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Social Affect (SA) and Restricted and…

Background: Although a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) appears to be stable in children as young as age three, few studies have explored stability of a diagnosis in younger children. Predictive value of diagnostic tools for toddlers and patterns of symptom change are important considerations for clinicians making early diagnoses. Most…