Early Diagnosis of Autism in the Community Is Associated with Marked Improvement in Social Symptoms within 1-2 Years

Autor/inn/en	Gabbay-Dizdar, Nitzan; Ilan, Michal; Meiri, Gal; Faroy, Michal; Michaelovski, Analya; Flusser, Hagit; Menashe, Idan; Koller, Judah; Zachor, Ditza A.; Dinstein, Ilan
Titel	Early Diagnosis of Autism in the Community Is Associated with Marked Improvement in Social Symptoms within 1-2 Years
Quelle	In: Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 26 (2022) 6, S.1353-1363 (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Gabbay-Dizdar, Nitzan) ORCID (Meiri, Gal) ORCID (Menashe, Idan) ORCID (Koller, Judah) ORCID (Zachor, Ditza A.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1362-3613
DOI	10.1177/13623613211049011
Schlagwörter	Young Children; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Clinical Diagnosis; Identification; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Social Development; Early Intervention; Outcomes of Treatment; Diagnostic Tests; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Observation; Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Frühe Kindheit; Autism; Autismus; Identifikation; Identifizierung; Psychiatrische Symptomatik; Soziale Entwicklung; Diagnostic test; Diagnostischer Test; Beobachtung
Abstract	It is widely believed that early diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder is essential for better outcome. This is demonstrated by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation to screen all 1.5-2.5-year-old toddlers for autism spectrum disorder. However, multiple longitudinal studies of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at 1.5-6 years of age and treated in community settings have not reported any associations between earlier diagnosis and improved outcome in core symptoms. Here, we quantified Longitudinal changes in core autism spectrum disorder symptoms of 131 children diagnosed at 1.2-5 years of age using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule--Second Edition Calibrated Severity Scores over a 1-2 year period. We examined the prevalence and magnitude of Calibrated Severity Scores changes across children who were diagnosed at different ages. The results revealed that age of diagnosis was significantly correlated with poorer outcome (r(129) = 0.41, p < 0.001). Approximately 65% of the children diagnosed before 2.5 years of age exhibited improvements in Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule--Second Edition Calibrated Severity Scores ([greater than or equal to]2 points) in contrast to only 23% of the children diagnosed after this age. Changes in younger children were driven by improvements in social symptoms despite deterioration in restricted and repetitive behaviors. These findings reveal that autism spectrum disorder diagnosis before the age of 2.5 is associated with considerable improvement in social symptoms. We suggest that greater brain plasticity and behavioral flexibility enable younger children to benefit more from autism spectrum disorder interventions even in community settings with heterogeneous services. This motivates further prioritization of early autism spectrum disorder screening as recommended by American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01