Three Common Early Indicators of Autism Spectrum Disorders(ASD) and Their Roles in Screening and Assessment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to review the three indicators of autism spectrum disorders(ASD), which were “response to name”, “joint attention”, and “imitation”. There is a arrangement of social communication parameters hat are important early indicators of ASD, particularly deficits in three aspects listed above. In addition, the roles of these indicators in two popular behavior scales, Developmental Profile(CSBS-DP) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule(ADOS) Module 1, were analyzed with a case study of a boy. These scales have high degree of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, and high validity among other popular tools for ASD screening. In the case, the boy was 24 months old and recently diagnosed as ASD. Using ADOS, his behaviors were observed and recorded. Based on the observation, he demonstrated deficits in areas of the three behaviors. A summary of the review suggests that these indicators still play important roles in diagnosis and assessment of ASD as well as early intervention for young children with ASD.