Strengthening systems of care to meet the needs of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is of growing importance. Administrative data provide advantages for research and planning purposes, including large sample sizes and the ability to identify enrollment in insurance coverage and service utilization of individuals with ASD.…

Attentional impairments are among the earliest identifiable features of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Three attention networks have been extensively studied using the attention network test (ANT), but this long and repetitive task may pose challenges for individuals with ASDs. The AttentionTrip was developed as a more engaging measure of…

Leo Kanner begins his landmark 1943 case series on autistic children by stating the condition was first brought to his attention in 1938. Recent letters to "JADD" have described this reference as "mysterious" and speculated it refers to papers published that year by Despert or Asperger. In fact, as Kanner goes on to state, 1938…

Imitation abnormalities are often documented in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), however the relevance of imitation to early development and early detection of ASD remains unclear. Recent studies that investigated whether imitation at 12 months distinguishes children who will subsequently receive an ASD diagnosis from other…

Recent advances in clinical research have made it possible to diagnosis autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as early as the second year of life. The diagnostic process early in development is often complex, and thus, familiarity with the most recent findings in clinical assessment instruments, early symptoms, and developmental trajectories of young…

This article describes the Pre-Linguistic Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, a semistructured observation scale designed for diagnosis of young children suspected of having autism. Reliability studies have been positive. Comparison of scores to judgments of clinical teams indicates that the schedule discriminates between autistic and…

Case studies of 4 females and 1 male, aged 6-25, with pervasive developmental disorders are described. All met standard diagnostic criteria for autism and showed many Rett syndrome symptoms. It is concluded that there is considerable overlap between the 2 disorders and that symptomatic similarities might mirror common pathopsychological…

This paper provides a history of the development of the DSM-III-R (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual III, Revised) section on pervasive developmental disorders. It describes the process by which the text and criteria for "Autistic Disorder" and "Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified" were decided and gives…

The interrelationship between the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic (ADOS-G) and clinical classification was studied in 184 children and adolescents with Mental Retardation (MR). The agreement between the ADI-R and ADOS-G was fair, with a substantial difference between younger and older…

The Scale of Pervasive Developmental Disorder in Mentally Retarded Persons (PDD-MRS) is described. The PDD-MRS is a simple classification and screening instrument devised for identification of autistic disorders (of the entire spectrum) in persons with mental retardation from mild to profound levels, age-range 2-55 years. The norms of the scale…

School refusal was one of the behavioral symptoms exhibited by a 12-year-old Japanese boy with Heller's syndrome, a disorder in which normal or near-normal development for the first few years of life is followed by a loss of speech and social skills, along with other behavioral symptoms. (JW)