title: Predicting outcomes of children referred for autism using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by early impairments in language and related social communication skills. This investigation explored whether scores on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) at ages 2 and 3 years predict outcome at age 9 years in children with ASD and developmental delay (DD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-two children referred for possible autism at age 2 years, and 19 children with DD, were followed to age 9 years. Vocabulary, prespeech, and gestures scores on CDIs administered at ages 2 and 3 years were used to predict follow-up IQ, language, adaptive skills, and scores on diagnostic measures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CDI scores at ages 2 and 3 did not predict outcome for the DD group. For the ASD sample, CDI receptive and expressive language and late gestures at ages 2 and 3 years predicted a number of follow-up variables, although scores at age 3 years were generally more predictive than scores at age 2 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CDI yielded scores that were predictive of outcome, suggesting that this parent report measure may be a quick and informative assessment of early verbal and nonverbal skills in children with ASD.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Autism and Communication Disorders Center, 1111 East Catherine Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. rluyster@umich.edu
authors.forename: Rhiannon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luyster
authors.forename: Shanping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lord
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies