Evaluating the rate of Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder in children at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the present study, we examined the rate of DSM-5 Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder (SCD) symptoms and diagnoses in a sample of school-aged youth at risk for ASD. Diagnostic evaluations were performed on 254 participants who had previously screened at risk for ASD via the Social Communication Questionnaire-Lifetime Version (SCQ). While 19 participants met all four clinical criteria for SCD, 18 of these (95%) also met criteria for DSM-5 ASD, effectively ruling out an SCD diagnosis. The one participant who met the criteria for SCD met DSM-IV criteria for PDD-NOS but did not meet DSM-5 criteria for ASD due to RRBs in only one category. Given the high proportion of at-risk youth with social communication impairment, it is essential that interventions be developed and made more readily available to individuals both with and without diagnoses of ASD.