The heterogeneous nature of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) makes accurate diagnosis challenging. Best practice assessments in schools can open pathways to appropriate interventions and educational placements for those with ASD, as well as help identify a student's strengths. There are various tools used in school settings to assess autism. In this…

Adaptive behavior skills are often delayed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and these behaviors are significantly associated with poor outcomes in adulthood, especially for autistic individuals that have no cognitive and/or language delays. Therefore, despite having the capacity to be self-sufficient, the vast majority of autistic adults fail to…

Intelligence in minimally verbal children on the autism spectrum (AS) is at risk of being underestimated. The present study investigated testability and cognitive profile of preschool autistic children using conventional tools and strength-informed tools. Fifty-two AS children and fifty-four typical children matched on age (31-77 months) were…

In public schools, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students are overidentified with autism (AU) but are underrepresented in other special education categories. Such patterns may be result, in part, from overaggregation of data from students representing diverse AAPI ethnic groups. Yet, professionals' implicit biases, limited cultural…

Introduction: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder display a pattern of social communication deficits and restricted and repetitive behaviors that leave them particularly vulnerable to developing anxiety. The presence of a co-occurring Intellectual Disability further complicates the situation, compromising traditional diagnostic techniques…

Latino children in the US are systematically underdiagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); therefore, it is important that recent changes to the diagnostic process do not exacerbate this pattern of under-identification. Previous research has found that the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) algorithm, based on the Diagnostic and…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires 95% participation in state achievement testing. Students with the most significant cognitive disabilities participate in states' alternate assessments based on alternate academic achievement standards (AA-AAAS). A growing number of these students are also English learners (Christensen et al., 2018).…

Given the importance of early intervention services for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), early diagnosis of children is critical. At present, several ASD screeners exist for young children, with the "Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers" ("M-CHAT") being one of the most widely researched. While the "M-CHAT" has good sensitivity…

There is debate in the current literature regarding the permanence of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. We undertook a systematic review of the diagnostic stability of ASD to summarise current evidence. A comprehensive search strategy was used to identify studies. Participants were children with ASD. Risk of bias was assessed by…

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are well-known for engagement in challenging behaviors. Unfortunately, due to its absence as a criterion for diagnosis in the "DSM-IV-TR", little attention has been paid to the endorsement rates of such behaviors. However, a recently developed measure to assist in the diagnosis of infants and toddlers…

Assessment of children's restricted and repetitive behaviours offers potential opportunities to improve early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and timely access to interventions and support. To facilitate this requires understanding of the phenomenology of repetitive behaviours in ASD, including differentiating behaviours seen in ASD…

There has been an exponential growth in assessment methods to diagnose disorders on the autism spectrum. Many reasons for this trend exist and include advancing knowledge on how to make a diagnosis, the heterogeneity of the spectrum, the realization that different methods may be needed based on age and intellectual disability. Other factors…

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterised by social and communication difficulties in day-to-day life, including problems in recognising emotions. However, experimental investigations of emotion recognition ability in ASD have been equivocal, hampered by small sample sizes, narrow IQ range and over-focus on the visual modality.…

As the "Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Second Edition" ("BASC-2") is often used to aid in diagnosis it is important to discern how children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) score on the "BASC-2" compared to typically developing controls. This study compared scores of typically developing…

Background: Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is of crucial importance, but lengthy delays are common. We examined whether this issue could be reliably addressed by local teams trained by a specialist ASD assessment team. Method: Four local teams were trained in diagnostic assessment. Their assessments of 38 children and young…