Checklist May Help Identify Autism Earlier On In Life

Identifying autism as early in life as possible increases the chances of being treated sooner, which improves a child’s subsequent learning and development. A new checklist that only takes five minutes for parents to complete at doctor’s waiting rooms might well help do this, researchers from the University of California, San Diego, reported in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Unfortunately, too many children are being diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder a very long time after their parents first notice and report concerns about their child. In many cases the child is not diagnosed until well after he/she starts school.

Thomas R. Insel, M.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said:

“Beyond this exciting proof of concept, such a screening program would answer parents’ concerns about their child’s possible ASD symptoms earlier and with more confidence than has ever been done before.”

Karen Pierce, Ph.D. and team set up a network of 137 pediatricians in San Diego County. The pediatricians attended a one-hour seminar, after which all 1-year-old babies were screened using the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile Infant-Toddler Checklist. This is a short questionnaire in which parents and caregivers fill in data regarding the baby’s gestures, gaze, words, sounds, and other communication signals appropriate for a 1-year-old.

The authors say the checklist can help spot language delay, developmental delay, and also ASD (autism spectrum disorder).

Children who failed the screen were referred for further testing and reassessed twice yearly until they were three years old.

32 out of 10,479 screened children were found to have ASD. After taking into account regression and late onset cases, the numbers correlated with what one would expect from 12-month-old babies, the authors added. The screening process appeared to provide a 75% accuracy diagnosis, when those identified as having developmental and language delay, or some other form of delay were included.

Those found to have developmental delay, 89% of those with language delay and the children diagnosed with ASD went on to have behavioral therapy. Treatment started when the children were approximately 17 months old – this compares to a national average of 5.7 years of age for diagnoses and treatment coming later, according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Very few of the participating pediatricians had been screening babies for ASD systematically before the study began. 96% of the pediatricians thought the program was good. 100% of them continued it.

Dr. Pierce said:

“In the context of a virtual lack of universal screening at 12 months, this program is one that could be adopted by any pediatric office, at virtually no cost, and can aid in the identification of children with true developmental delays.”

The authors say more studies are required to redefine the screening tool, monitor kids for longer, and to determine what barriers there are in treatment follow-up.