The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine racial differences in parental beliefs and concern about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) versus clinical judgment. The sample included 489 children with ASD undergoing their first ASD evaluation. Parent belief that their child had ASD was highest among parents of White children. White children…

This study investigated how student and school-level socioeconomic status (SES) measures predict students' odds of being identified for special education, particularly high-incidence disabilities. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Kindergarten cohort, hierarchical models were used to determine the relations of student and school SES to…

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1 in 6 children are diagnosed with a developmental disability or with developmental delays, which are associated with impairments in physical, language, cognitive, and/or adaptive behaviors. To fill a gap in the literature, the adaptive profile of young children initially…

We used pupil-level data from the National Pupil Database in England to conduct a longitudinal analysis of the identification of moderate learning difficulties (MLD) and social, emotional, and mental health difficulties (SEMH) among 550,000 pupils ages 5 to 11 years. Survival analysis was used to determine the hazard ratios (HRs) for time to first…

Each year, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) releases a list of scientific advances that represent significant progress in the field of autism research. The "Summary of Advances" provides short, plain language summaries of the top research breakthroughs selected by the IACC from a pool of research articles nominated by…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 1 in 88 children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). CDC's estimate comes from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, which monitors the number of 8-year-old children with ASDs living in diverse communities throughout the…

Developmental screening programs identify young children with delayed skill growth or challenging behaviors and refer them to community agencies for evaluation or other services. This research studied the predictive impact of developmental screening results and child and family characteristics on the completion of these referrals for evaluation. A…

A study investigated the effect of different diagnostic criteria on the identification of emotional or behavioral disorders in 3694 second-grade children. Results indicated the 13 different diagnostic combinations identified from 1.1% to 27.5% of the sample. Four of these combinations resulted in significant ethnic or gender bias. (Author/CR)