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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

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Abstract

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 current study compared the discriminant ability of the Checklist for Early Signs of Developmental Disorders (CESDD) filled out by child care workers with that of frequently used parent questionnaires in a sample of 357 children between 5.57 and 48.13 months old who showed signs of ASD or language delay. The discriminant power of the CESDD was as good as that of parent questionnaires. Therefore, inclusion of child care workers in the early detection of ASD seems promising.

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Acknowledgments

Partial funding for this research was provided by support from Steunpunt Expertisenetwerken and Vlaamse Vereniging Autisme. We thank the day-care centres, the children and their families, without whom this study would not have been possible. Special thanks goes to the diagnostic centra across Flanders (COS Gent, COS Antwerpen, COS Brussel, COS Leuven, RCA Gent, RCA Antwerpen, RCA Brussel and ECA Leuven) for the good collaboration which made early diagnosis for screen positive children possible.

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Correspondence to Mieke Dereu.

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Dereu, M., Raymaekers, R., Warreyn, P. et al. 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. J Autism Dev Disord 42, 781–796 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1307-9

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