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Assessment of the Core Features of ASD

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Handbook of Early Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders

Part of the book series: Autism and Child Psychopathology Series ((ACPS))

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the assessments utilized in the examination of the core features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as currently defined in young children 6 years of age or younger. We begin with a brief review of the history of assessment of ASD to place into context the current understanding of three core domains of impairment in ASD: social, communication and language, and repetitive/restricted interests and behaviors. We then briefly review the clinical assessment of ASD and turn to an examination of the key features of each domain of impairment and corresponding assessment tools. Within each domain we highlight the observational methods, interview formats, questionnaires, as well as experimental approaches used to explore these domains of impairment. It is our aim to provide the reader with a hearty overview of the methods and approaches used in the assessment of the core domains of impairment in young children with ASD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Raphael Bernier

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  1. Raphael Bernier
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Correspondence to Raphael Bernier .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Tarzana, California, USA

    Jonathan Tarbox

  2. Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Tarzana, California, USA

    Dennis R. Dixon

  3. Department of Psychology, Queens College City University of New York, Flushing, New York, USA

    Peter Sturmey

  4. Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    Johnny L. Matson

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Bernier, R. (2014). Assessment of the Core Features of ASD. In: Tarbox, J., Dixon, D., Sturmey, P., Matson, J. (eds) Handbook of Early Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0401-3_4

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