Towards a new functional assessment of autistic dysfunction in children with developmental disorders - The Behaviour Function Inventory

In order to assess particular disorders of psychological development and fu nctioning in children with developmental disorders, we have developed a new tool, the Behaviour Function Inventory (BFI), based on 11 neurophysiologic al functions, disorders of which are considered to contribute to the core a utistic syndrome. This article reports the reliability and validity study o f this new scale. Factorial analysis computed on the 55 initial items ident ified six main dimensions which we characterized and labelled: interaction dysfunction, praxis dysfunction, auditory dysfunction, attention dysfunctio n, islet of ability and emotional dysfunction. Relationships between these six new variables and diagnostic subgroups, and chronological and developme ntal age, are discussed. The BFI offers precise information of the function al symptomatology of autism, showing clear evidence of some disordered area s of functioning. This new approach may provide valuable information in cli nical research, especially for psychopathology and physiopathology studies.