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J Autism Dev Disord (2007) 37:425436 DOI 10.1007/s10803-006-0177-z
ORIGINAL PAPER
Differentiating between Autism Spectrum Disorders and Other Developmental Disabilities in Children Who Failed a Screening Instrument for ASD
Pamela Ventola Jamie Kleinman Juhi Pandey Leandra Wilson Emma Esser Hilary Boorstein Thyde Dumont-Mathieu Gail Marshia Marianne Barton Sarah Hodgson James Green Fred Volkmar Katarzyna Chawarska Tammy Babitz Diana Robins Deborah Fein
Published online: 1 August 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006
Abstract This study compared behavioral presentation of toddlers with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and toddlers with global developmental delay (DD) or developmental language disorder (DLD) who display some characteristics of ASD using the diagnostic algorithm items from the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Generic (ADOS), the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), and Modied Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT). To date, 195 children have failed the M-CHAT and have been diagnosed with ASD, DD or DLD. Children with ASD had prominent and consistent impairments in socialization skills, especially joint attention skills and were more impaired in some aspects of communication, play, and sensory processing. Children with ASD and children with DD/ DLD shared common features, but certain behavioral markers differentiated the two groups.
Keywords Autism Early detection Global developmental delay Developmental language disorder
Introduction
Young children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) share many features with children with other developmental delays, such as global developmental delay and developmental language delay (Charman et al., 1998; Landry & Loveland, 1988; Lord, 1995; Lord, Storoschuk, Rutter, & Pickles, 1993). These similarities contribute to difculties in accurately diagnosing ASD in very young children. However, accurate diagnosis is crucial for children to receive specialized and appropriate intervention services tailored to their specic needs.
There is a relative scarcity of research that looks specically at the behavioral differences between children with ASD and children with other early manifesting developmental delays, and most of the literature in the area compares these groups of children for the purpose of validating diagnostic instruments. The language, cognitive, and social differences between children with ASD and children with other delays has been examined, but the majority of this research focuses on older children and not on the behavioral differences that are seen in very young children (Adrien, Deletang, Martineau, Couturier, & Barthelemy, 2001; Bartak, Rutter, & Cox, 1977;...