Targeted screening of children at increased likelihood of autism is recommended. However, autism screening tools are usually validated for use mainly in low-likelihood populations. This study compared the accuracy of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-up (M-CHAT-R/F), the ASDetect app, and the Social Attention and…

ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder impacting 1 in 44 children and early identification of children with ASD is critical for the intervention. Several screening measures have been developed for early identification, including the "Autism Spectrum Rating Scales, 6-18 years Parent Report (ASRS)." The ASRS has been understudied, and the…

Very preterm (VPT; < 33 weeks' gestation) toddlers screening positively for autism spectrum conditions (ASC) may display heterogenous neurodevelopmental trajectories. Here we studied neonatal brain volumes and childhood ASC traits evaluated with the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2) in VPT-born toddlers (N = 371; median age 20.17 months)…

Purpose: To make early detection of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), caregiver-report instruments remain an efficient and adaptable option for the preliminary assessment. This study aimed to compare the psychometric properties of the Clancy Autism Behavior Scale (CABS) and Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) as screening tools for ASD…

Genetic testing is recommended as part of an autism assessment, and most parents support genetic testing for their minor children. However, the impact on parents of receiving a monogenetic/ copy number variant diagnosis for autism in their child is not well understood. To explore this, we surveyed and interviewed parents of children in the SPARK…

Purpose: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are conditions that similarly alter cognitive functioning ability and challenge the social interaction, attention, and communication skills of affected individuals. Yet these are distinct neurological conditions that can exhibit diverse characteristics…

Prior studies suggest autism-specific and general developmental screens are complementary for identifying both autism and developmental delay (DD). Parents completed autism and developmental screens before 18-month visits. Children with failed screens for autism (n = 167) and age, gender, and practice-matched children passing screens (n = 241)…

This study was undertaken to set a novel developmental screening test for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using the Griffiths Scales of Child Development (Griffith III) (Green et al., 2016; Stroud et al., 2016), in order to intercept the early atypical developmental patterns indicating ASD risk in the first 3 years of age. An observational and…

Purpose: A considerable number of screening and diagnostic tools for autism exist, but variability in these measures presents challenges to data harmonization and the comparability and generalizability of findings. At the same time, there is a movement away from autism symptomatology to stances that capture heterogeneity and appreciate diversity.…

Currently, there are no existing measures to screen for or diagnose Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SPCD). We conducted an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the Social Communication Disorder Screener (SCDS), a 14-item, parent-report measure based on the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for SPCD. This EFA examined the internal consistency…

The COVID-19 pandemic has fast-tracked interest in telehealth methods to guarantee the continuity of care of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Store-and-forward telehealth approaches offer the opportunity to facilitate timely screening of ASD, allowing parents to record videos of their child's behaviors, subsequently shared with…

Developmental monitoring/screening predict early identified autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but studies have not yet robustly controlled for a key health care service impacting early identification: medical home. National Surveys of Children's Health (NSCH; 2016-2020) were used to determine the relationship between medical home, developmental…

This study examined if listening to music will improve the accuracy of blood pressure (BP) readings in children with Williams syndrome (WS). Fifty-two participants (7-12 years) were randomly assigned to a music or non-music group. BPs were obtained at two time points. There was a significant decrease in both systolic and diastolic BP from Time 1…

The first aim of this study was to construct/validate a subscale--with cut-offs considering gender/age differences--for the school-age Child Behavior CheckList (CBCL) to screen for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) applying both data-driven (N = 1666) and clinician-expert (N = 15) approaches. Further, we compared these to previously established CBCL…

Although, the operationalization of the autism spectrum disorder has been updated around two domains, the broad autism phenotype (BAP) one has not. Additionally, the items of the three common BAP measures, the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ), the Autism Quotient, and the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), remain organized around a…