Screening for autism spectrum disorders in Flemish day-care centres with the checklist for early signs of developmental disorders.
A new screening instrument for ASD was developed that can be filled out by child care workers: the Checklist for Early Signs of Developmental Disorders (CESDD). The predictive validity of the CESDD was evaluated in a population of 6,808 children between 3 and 39 months attending day-care centres in Flanders. The CESDD had a sensitivity of .80 and a specificity of .94. Based on the screening procedure used in this study, 41 children were diagnosed with ASD or got a working diagnosis of ASD. Thus, including child care workers' report on signs of ASD in screening procedures can help to identify cases of ASD at a young age.
Dereu
Mieke
M
Research Group Developmental Disorders, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. mieke.dereu@ugent.be
Warreyn
Petra
P
Raymaekers
Ruth
R
Meirsschaut
Mieke
M
Pattyn
Griet
G
Schietecatte
Inge
I
Roeyers
Herbert
H
D001530:Belgium; D057189:Checklist; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D011159:Population Surveillance