Autism Screening for Young Children

Question: Autism Screening for Young Children

Answer: Before getting too concerned, it's important to have an expert or experts screen your child for autism. Several screening instruments have been developed to quickly gather information about a child's social and communicative development within medical settings. Among them are:

• The Checklist of Autism in Toddlers (CHAT)
• The modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT)
• The Screening Tool for Autism in Two-Year-Olds (STAT)
• the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ, for children 4 years of age and older)

Some screening instruments rely solely on parent responses to a questionnaire, and some rely on a combination of parent report and observation.

If screenings show indicators of autism, the practitioner may then move on to the next steps: ruling out other disorders and diagnosing autism.

_Sourcess:

arly Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Jennifer Pinto-Martin, PhD and Susan E. Levy, MD. Current Treatment Options in Neurology 2004, 6:391-400.

American Academy of Pediatrics: The pediatrician's role in the diagnosis and management of autistic spectrum disorder in children. Pediatrics 2001 May;107(5):1221-6.

National Institute of Mental Health, Autism Spectrum Disorders (Pervasive Developmental Disorders) A detailed booklet that describes symptoms, causes, and treatments, with information on getting help and coping. 2004.