Early Identification and Early Diagnosis

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Early Identification and Early Diagnosis

Currently, ASD is one of the most common forms of developmental disability. The most reliable treatments are behavioral, developmental, or some integration therein. With the help of advanced diagnostic tools and early screening processes, clinicians now have a great chance of identifying children with ASD in the first 2 years of life, which helps to deliver the early intervention (Boyd, Humphreys & Sam, 2010).

Early Identification
Due to constant research and studies, more and more scientific knowledge about early warning signs of ASD has accumulated. These behavioral or physiological indicators occurring early in children’s development are able to reliably predict the onset of the disorder later. If guardians or practitioners become more acquainted with these early signs, it will allow children to receive an earlier diagnosis and more timely access to early intervention services (Boyd, Humphreys & Sam, 2010).

Some behavioral signs include delays or disorders in early social behaviors, such as social smiling, looking at faces, and responding to one’s name, and in early communication behaviors, such as producing vocalizations. In addition, some researchers have reported evidence that head circumference in infancy may be a diagnostic predictor. The study showed that children who were later diagnosed with ASD had a head circumference that was not enlarged at birth, which later rapidly increased during the first 2 years of life (Boyd, Humphreys & Sam, 2010).



Early Diagnosis
The reported mean age at which children with ASD receive a diagnosis was around 4 years old. With the help of active surveillance and screening initiatives, the possibility of earlier diagnosis is soaring. Research has proven that the reliability and stability of the early diagnosis at 2 years of age is quite high (Boyd, Humphreys & Sam, 2010). Thus, it is important for trained clinicians to be equipped with valid assessment and diagnostic tools.

Diagnostic criteria and assessment procedures for infants and toddlers should not be the same for older children since those diagnostic indicators need to be based on more chronologically or developmentally advanced expressions of autism (Boyd, Humphreys & Sam, 2010). Some diagnostic tools appropriate for toddlers with ASD have been developed over the past few decades. One of the valid tools is the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). It is a standard diagnostic tool and also validates a version of the ADOS for toddlers. The other widely used tool is called the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (Boyd, Humphreys & Sam, 2010). With these tools, professionals and families should be able to identify warning signs and diagnose children with ASD at an earlier stage.



References:
1) Boyd, B. A., Odom, S. L., Humphreys, B. P., & Sam, A. M. (2010). Infants and Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Early Identification and Early Intervention. Journal of Early Intervention, 32(2), 75–98. 

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