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Saturday, May 17, 2008: 2:15 PM
Bourgogne (Novotel London West)
Background:
General agreement exists on the need to identify ASD early in life. In the Netherlands nearly all children (about 98%) visit well baby clinics, where growth and development of children between age 0-4 is monitored by means of the Van Wiechen Schedule. This is a screening measure in which behavior within several domains of development (e.g. fine/gross motor skills, social behaviour, language abilities and adaptation) is evaluated.
Objectives:
To evaluate at which point in development (within the first year of life) children that are later diagnosed with ASD, show deviations in development in comparison with population norms. Furthermore, children with ASD and other developmental disorders will be compared.
Methods:
Schedules covering the first two years of development were studied retrospectively of 129 children diagnosed with ASD, 56 children diagnosed with other developmental disorders and compared to population norms.
Results:
The first results show abnormalities in development of children with ASD as early as the second month. Areas of abnormal development pertain to all developmental areas in the first year and to social and communication items in particular. Although the surveillance method with the Van Wiechen Schedule seems helpful in identyfing at risk children, the instrument can not discriminate children with ASD from children with other developmental problems, as these children also fail the Van Wiechen items.
Conclusions:
Surveillance with the Van WiechenSchedule can be helpful in identifying children at risk. Additional and specific ASD screening will be needed within the at risk group. The results will be replicated in an independent sample of 143 children with ASD and also in the siblings of these children, in order to assess early signs of the broader phenotype of autism. The replication study is in progress and the results will be presented at the IMFAR conference in may 2008.
General agreement exists on the need to identify ASD early in life. In the Netherlands nearly all children (about 98%) visit well baby clinics, where growth and development of children between age 0-4 is monitored by means of the Van Wiechen Schedule. This is a screening measure in which behavior within several domains of development (e.g. fine/gross motor skills, social behaviour, language abilities and adaptation) is evaluated.
Objectives:
To evaluate at which point in development (within the first year of life) children that are later diagnosed with ASD, show deviations in development in comparison with population norms. Furthermore, children with ASD and other developmental disorders will be compared.
Methods:
Schedules covering the first two years of development were studied retrospectively of 129 children diagnosed with ASD, 56 children diagnosed with other developmental disorders and compared to population norms.
Results:
The first results show abnormalities in development of children with ASD as early as the second month. Areas of abnormal development pertain to all developmental areas in the first year and to social and communication items in particular. Although the surveillance method with the Van Wiechen Schedule seems helpful in identyfing at risk children, the instrument can not discriminate children with ASD from children with other developmental problems, as these children also fail the Van Wiechen items.
Conclusions:
Surveillance with the Van WiechenSchedule can be helpful in identifying children at risk. Additional and specific ASD screening will be needed within the at risk group. The results will be replicated in an independent sample of 143 children with ASD and also in the siblings of these children, in order to assess early signs of the broader phenotype of autism. The replication study is in progress and the results will be presented at the IMFAR conference in may 2008.