Children can be reliably diagnosed with autism as early as 3 years of age, and early interventions are initiated. There is often a significant gap between the age of onset of symptoms (2-3 years) and diagnosis (8-10 years) in Africa. We conducted a study to validate the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) as a screening instrument in a rural…

The aim of the present study was to establish diagnostic validity of the new algorithm of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale, the ADOS-2, to differentiate between ASD and other clinically relevant psychiatric and developmental disorders in a large German sample. Validity of ADOS and ADOS-2 diagnostic algorithms was established in 826…

Background: Substantial development in social communication skills occurs in the first two years of life. Growth should be evident in sharing emotion and eye gaze; rate of communication, communicating for a variety of functions; using gestures, sounds and words; understanding language, and using functional and pretend actions with objects in play.…

Universal screening for emotional and behavioral risk in schools facilitates early identification and intervention for students as part of multitiered systems of support. Early identification has the potential to mitigate adverse outcomes of emotional and behavioral disorders. The purpose of this study was to extend existing research on the…

The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS; Constantino and Gruber in Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Western Psychological Services, Los Angeles, 2005) is a commonly used screening tool for identifying children with possible autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study investigated the relationship between SRS scores and eventual diagnostic outcome…

The number of young children with autism is ever-increasing, and school psychologists are more frequently required to identify these students. Valid screening tools are needed in order to focus school psychologists' time on those students in need of intensive evaluations in Early Intervention programs. The purpose of this study was to examine the…

There are a limited number of assessments available to examine social skills deficits in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). The Behavioral Assessment of Social Interactions in Young Children (BASYC) was developed as a direct assessment of social deficits in young children with ASD relative to children without ASD. The BASYC is a…

Treatment validity is a frequently neglected topic of screening instruments used to identify autism spectrum disorders. Treatment validity, however, should represent an important aspect of these instruments to link the resulting data to the selection of interventions as well as make decisions about treatment length and intensity. Research…

The construct validity of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS) was evaluated with 94 kindergarten students. Results supported both the convergent and discriminant validity of the Social Skills and Problem Behavior scales of the PKBS. Results also support use of the PKBS for identifying young children who are behaviorally at risk.…

This paper describes the Early Screening Project (ESP), a system to identify behavior problems among preschool children ages 3 to 5. The ESP is a three-stage, multiple-gating set of procedures which assesses both the frequency and intensity of adjustment problems. In Stage 1, teachers rank students on externalizing and internalizing behavior…