Multisite study of new autism diagnostic interview-revised (ADI-R) algorithms for toddlers and young preschoolers.

Tureck et al. (2013) tested new ADI-R rules made just for toddlers and young preschoolers.

They ran the new rules at many clinics to see if scores still flagged autism correctly.

Kids as young as 12 months with a nonverbal mental age of at least 10 months took part.

The toddler rules kept the good sensitivity and specificity of the old rules.

A clean three-factor structure held up across sites.

Clinicians can now trust the ADI-R for kids under four.

Braam et al. (2008) first showed the old two-factor ADI-R needed fixing. Their work led to the 2013 toddler update.

Mulder et al. (2020) trimmed items on the SCQ and SRS-2 for fragile-X. Both papers prove that small rule tweaks boost accuracy.

Bouck et al. (2016) warn that wide confidence intervals plague two-phase prevalence studies. The tighter toddler ADI-R rules help shrink that uncertainty.

If you assess toddlers, swap in the 2013 algorithms. You will get reliable autism flags without waiting for older preschool norms. Update your interview scripts and training materials this month.