Screening for autism spectrum disorder in underserved communities: Early childcare providers as reporters

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.

To Screen or Not to Screen Universally for Autism is not the Question: Why the Task Force Got It Wrong

“…Many pediatricians also admitted having more difficultly assessing children from primarily Spanish speaking families due to language and cultural differences 73 . These findings are consistent with a recent study that conducted ASD screening in state licensed daycares serving low-income populations that led to the identification of ASD in 3% of the children (mean age of 50 months) 74 . Importantly, none of these children had been previously identified.…”

Rural Trends in Diagnosis and Services for Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Screening for ASD might ideally start in the pediatrician’s office, but there may also be a lack of awareness from health professionals and lack of specialized professionals in the area (Elder et al, 2016). Further, very few service providers in rural areas specifically screen for ASD (Janvier et al, 2016), putting these communities at a greater risk of not being identified. These problems further contribute to the delay in diagnosing a child for these areas.…”

Seeing and hearing: The impacts of New York City’s universal pre-kindergarten program on the health of low-income children

“…Many studies find that pre-K programs improve children's academic skills (literacy, language and math), cognition, and test scores (Weiland and Yoshikawa, 2013;Gormley and Gayer, 2005;Fitzpartick, 2008;Lipsey et al, 2013;Wong et al, 2008;Cascio and Schanzenbach, 2013;Hill, Gormley, and Adelstein, 2015;Gormley, Phillips, and Gayer, 2008) in the short run, but often find these effects fade out over time. Studies also find that these programs increase the frequency of screenings for developmental delays and chronic conditions (Zigler, Piotrkowski, and Collins, 1994;Janvier et al, 2016), which may enable better outcomes in subsequent years. However, studies of early childhood programs also find that early exposure to other children may have deleterious effects.…”