Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 May;54(5):582-90.
doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12008.

Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder: stability and change in clinical diagnosis and symptom presentation

Whitney Guthrie  1 , Lauren B Swineford, Charly Nottke, Amy M Wetherby
Affiliations

Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder: stability and change in clinical diagnosis and symptom presentation

Whitney Guthrie et al. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2013 May.

Abstract

Background: Although a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) appears to be stable in children as young as age three, few studies have explored stability of a diagnosis in younger children. Predictive value of diagnostic tools for toddlers and patterns of symptom change are important considerations for clinicians making early diagnoses. Most findings come from high-risk samples, but reports on children screened in community settings are also needed.

Methods: Stability of diagnosis and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule – Toddler Module (ADOS-T) classifications and scores was examined across two time points in a sample of 82 children identified through the FIRST WORDS Project.Children received two comprehensive diagnostic evaluations at average ages of 19.39 (SD = 2.12) and 36.89 (SD = 3.85) months.

Results: Stability was 100% when confirming and ruling out a diagnosis of ASD based on a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation that included clinic and home observations,although diagnosis was initially deferred for 17% of the sample. Receiver Operating Characteristic curves revealed excellent sensitivity and acceptable specificity for the ADOS-T compared to concurrent diagnosis. Logistic regressions indicated good predictive value of initial ADOS-T scores for follow-up diagnosis. Finally, both ASD and Non-ASD children demonstrated a decrease in Social Affect scores (i.e.,improvement), whereas children with ASD demonstrated an increase in Restricted and Repetitive Behavior scores (i.e., worsening), changes that were accounted for by nonverbal developmental level in mixed model analyses.

Conclusions: Short-term stability was documented for children diagnosed at 19 months on average, although a minority of children initially showed unclear diagnostic presentations.Findings highlight utility of the ADOS-T in making early diagnoses and predicting follow-up diagnoses. Children with ASD demonstrated improvement in social communication behaviors and unfolding of repetitive behaviors, suggesting that certain early patterns of change in symptoms may be characteristic of ASD.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, developmental delay, diagnosis, development,assessment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement: Amy M. Wetherby receives royalties for the CSBS. Whitney Guthrie, an author of the ADOS-T, did not receive royalties for its use in this study as it was in prepublication form at the time of data collection. All other authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stability of Clinical Diagnosis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bodfish JW, Symons F, Lewis M. The Repetitive Behavior Scales: A test manual. Morganton, NC: Western Carolina Center Research Reports; 1999.
    1. Chawarska K, Klin A, Paul R, Macari S, Volkmar F. A prospective study of toddlers with ASD: short-term diagnostic and cognitive outcomes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2009;37:89–126. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chawarska K, Klin A, Paul R, Volkmar F. Autism spectrum disorder in the second year: stability and change in syndrome expression. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines. 2007;48:128–138. - PubMed
    1. Cook N. Statistical Evaluation of Prognostic versus Diagnostic Models: Beyond the ROC Curve. Clinical Chemistry. 2008;54:17–23. - PubMed
    1. Cox A, Klein K, Charman T, Baird G, Baron-Cohen S, Swettenham J, et al. Autism spectrum disorders at 20 and 42 months of age: Stability of clinical and ADI-R diagnosis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 1999;40:719–732. - PubMed