Screening for autism spectrum disorder in underserved communities: Early childcare providers as reporters.
Daycare staff can reliably complete autism screening, flagging 3% of kids for early help in underserved areas.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The researchers asked childcare workers to fill out a short autism checklist for every child.
Most families used public daycare in a low-income neighborhood.
Staff mailed back nine of every ten forms they handed out.
What they found
Fourteen of every hundred kids scored high enough to need a closer look.
Three of every hundred later met full ASD criteria.
The simple paper form caught cases that busy doctors had missed.
How this fits with other research
Dereu et al. (2012) ran the same test four years earlier. They showed daycare staff pick up red flags just as well as parents do.
Li et al. (2018) moved the idea to toddlers. They added a quick play observation and doubled the number of kids who got help.
Leung et al. (2014) saw higher screen-positive rates in clinics. Their 30% flag rate looked scary next to the 14% here, but both groups still referred the same small 3% who truly had ASD.
Why it matters
You can train preschool teachers to screen in one short meeting. High return rates show the job fits their daily routine. Use the same tool to cast a wider net without extra staff or money.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Early diagnosis of autism typically is associated with earlier access to intervention and improved outcomes. Daycares and preschools largely have been ignored as possible venues for early identification. This may be especially important for minority children in the United States who are typically diagnosed with autism later than White children, limiting their access to early specialized interventions and possibly resulting in poorer outcomes. Early childcare providers within underserved communities completed autism screening tools for a sample of low-risk young children (n = 967) in their programs. Early childcare providers returned screening tools for 90% of the children for whom parental consent had been received. A total of 14% of children screened positive for autism spectrum disorder and 3% of the sample met criteria for autism spectrum disorder. Among those who screened positive, 34% were lost to follow-up. Findings suggest that early childcare providers can effectively screen young children for autism spectrum disorder in preschool/daycare settings, thus improving access to early diagnosis and reducing potential healthcare disparities among underserved populations.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2016 · doi:10.1177/1362361315585055