How useful are screening instruments for toddlers to predict outcome at age 4? General development, language skills, and symptom severity in children with a false positive screen for autism spectrum disorder.

Screening instruments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often generate many false positives. It is argued that these children may have other developmental difficulties and are also in need of thorough assessment and early intervention. The current study looked at the predictive validity of positive screens on the Checklist for Early Signs of Developmental Disorders (CESDD) and the Early Screening of Autistic Traits questionnaire (ESAT) at age 2 towards language, cognitive function, and symptom severity at age 4.

What is the impact of autism on mother-child interactions within families with a child with autism spectrum disorder?

This within-family study investigated whether mothers differentiate between children in their interactive behavior. Mothers were observed during a play and a task interaction separately with their child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (between 46 and 84 months old, M = 68) and with a younger sibling (between 29 and 67 months old, M = 48). Additionally, the social behavior of the children with ASD and their non-ASD siblings was compared.

Can child care workers contribute to the early detection of autism spectrum disorders? A comparison between screening instruments with child care workers versus parents as informants.

Several screening instruments for ASD in young children were developed during the last decades. Only few studies compare the discriminative power of these instruments in the same sample. In particular comparisons of instruments that use different informants are scarce in young children.

The social interactive behaviour of young children with autism spectrum disorder and their mothers: is there an effect of familiarity of the interaction partner?

In this study the social behaviour of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their mothers is compared within two different dyads: a dyad consisting of a mother and her own child and a dyad consisting of a mother and an unfamiliar child. Mothers did not change the frequency of their social initiatives and responsiveness with an unfamiliar child, but they became less directive than with their own child. Children with ASD did not show significantly better social behaviour with their own mother than with an unfamiliar mother.

Screening for autism spectrum disorders in Flemish day-care centres with the checklist for early signs of developmental disorders.

A new screening instrument for ASD was developed that can be filled out by child care workers: the Checklist for Early Signs of Developmental Disorders (CESDD). The predictive validity of the CESDD was evaluated in a population of 6,808 children between 3 and 39 months attending day-care centres in Flanders. The CESDD had a sensitivity of .