Can non-clinicians spot preschoolers likely to have autism spectrum disorder by observing their everyday peer interaction? We set out to develop a screening tool that capitalizes on peer interaction as a naturalistic "stress test" to identify children more likely than their peers to have autism spectrum disorder. A total of 304 3- to…

Although early detection of autism facilitates intervention, early detection strategies are not yet widespread in China. To improve the situation, the Chinese version of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F) was validated. The sample included 7928 toddlers, aged 16 to 30 months, screened during their…

Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) can be an extended procedure since ASC tend to both vary greatly across individual symptoms and diagnostic pathways with serious challenges to opportune access and diagnosis in low resource settings. We adapted the Q-CHAT-25 for use in a routine health check-ups programme at Chilean primary health…

There is a critical need for validated screening tools for autism spectrum disorder in very young children so families can access tailored intervention services as early as possible. Few screeners exist for children between the recommended screening ages of 18-24 months. This study examined the utility of a new autism-specific parent-report…

Restricted repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a core feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and further occur in intellectual disability (ID), mental disorders (MD), and in typically developed people (TD). There is a need of a valid and reliable measure to record RRBs as transdiagnostic symptom, which captures RRBs heterogeneity and evaluates…

Although the Child Behavior Checklist 1½-5's 12-item "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders"-Autism Spectrum Problems Scale (formerly called Pervasive Developmental Problems scale) has been used in several studies as an autism spectrum disorder screener, the base rate and stability of its items and its measurement model…

Anecdotal evidence suggests that autistic people experience an elevated risk of homelessness, but systematic empirical research on this topic is lacking. As a step towards filling this gap in knowledge, we conducted a preliminary investigation of the prevalence of "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (5th ed.) autism…

Accurately diagnosing autism spectrum disorders in adulthood can be challenging. Structured questionnaires and diagnostic measures are frequently used to assist case recognition and diagnosis. This study reviewed research evidence on structured questionnaires and diagnostic measures published since the National Institute for Health and Care…

The Hong Kong Chinese version of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Child and Autism-Spectrum Quotient-Adolescent were examined for their psychometric properties and specificity on screening autism spectrum disorder against attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. This study recruited three groups of participants: typically developing children;…

Strategies for the early detection of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in people with intellectual developmental disorder (IDD) are urgently needed, but few specific tools have been developed. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the EVTEA-DI, a Spanish adaptation of the PDD-MRS, in a large randomized sample of 979 adults with…

While autism spectrum disorder screening tools provide a useful resource for practitioners, the reality is they are underused. The justifications often provided include the time required for administration and the training involved. A brief tool with good psychometric properties that require minimal training is required. This study examined the…

There is a critical need for evidence-based, broadband behavioral, and ASD screening measures for use in pediatric and early educational settings to ensure that young children at risk for developing social-emotional disorders and/or ASD are provided with early intervention services to optimize long-term outcomes. The BITSEA is a 42-item screener…

Borrowing from a clinical psychology observational methodology, thin-slice observations were used to assess autism characteristics in toddlers. Thin-slices are short observations taken from a longer behavior stream which are assigned ratings by multiple raters using a 5-point scale. The raters' observations are averaged together to assign a…

The screening accuracy of the parent and teacher-reported Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) was compared with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) classification according to (1) the Developmental, Dimensional, and Diagnostic Interview (3Di), (2) the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), (3) both the 3Di and ADOS, in 186 children referred to…

In California, individuals with autism and co-occurring mental disorders, and their families, face two serious barriers when attempting to access the mental health services they need. The first is that the State Mental Health Specialty Service guidelines specifically exclude autism as a qualifying primary diagnosis for eligibility for mental…