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Assessment of Autism in Community Settings: Discrepancies in Classification

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Abstract

Review of 78 evaluations for 29 young children examined practices used in assessment of autism spectrum disorders in three settings: public schools, developmental disabilities eligibility determinations, and our hospital-based early childhood mental health program. While similar rates of classification of autism spectrum disorders were found across sites, the rate of agreement by different evaluators for individual children was only 45%. Further, most community evaluators did not follow best practice guidelines nor use autism diagnostic tools with established psychometric properties. In this sample of primarily Latino, Spanish-speaking children, most community evaluators did not document assessment of the child in their native language, nor address the impact of language in their assessments.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported in part by funds from the USC Center for Premature Infant Health and Development, and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. Many thanks to mentor, Jack Turman, PhD, for his guidance and support, and to Maureen Dragan and Alexandra Demco for research assistance. Portions of this report were presented at the Saban Research Institute annual poster session in Los Angeles, CA, USA on June 2, 2008, and will be presented at the National Training Institute of Zero to Three on December 3, 2008.

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Correspondence to Marian E. Williams.

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Williams, M.E., Atkins, M. & Soles, T. Assessment of Autism in Community Settings: Discrepancies in Classification. J Autism Dev Disord 39, 660–669 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0668-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-008-0668-1

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