EARLY RECOGNITION OF AUTISM - PARENTAL REPORTS VS CLINICAL OBSERVATION

Objective: To determine which behavioral characteristics of autism are apparent in early childhood and to examine the relative contributions of clinical observation and parental reports to early identification of autism. Design: Blinded comparison of behavioral data obtained thro ugh parental reports and clinical observation. Setting: Child developm ent referral center. Patients: Twenty-six children (23 boys and three girls) younger than age 48 months with a clinical diagnosis of autism. Selection Procedures: Consecutive sample. Interventions: None. Measur ements and Results. Social interaction, communication, and activities and interests were evaluated using standard diagnostic criteria for au tism. Results suggested that deficits in the areas of social interacti on, imitation, play, and non-verbal communication are more prominent t han insistence on sameness and routines in young children with autism. Also, parental reports and clinical observation appear to detect diff erent aspects of abnormal behavior patterns in this sample. Conclusion s: Improved awareness of the early signs of autism should help physici ans recognize this disorder in a timely manner. Further research may i dentify how observation of play and parental reports might be incorpor ated efficiently into a physician's repertoire of developmental and be havioral screening tools.