Use of a Teacher Nomination Strategy to Screen for Autism Spectrum Disorders in General Education Classrooms: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Given a rising prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), this project aimed to develop and pilot test various teacher nomination strategies to identify children at risk for ASD in a timely, reliable, cost-effective manner. Sixty participating elementary school teachers evaluated 1323 children in total. Each teacher nominated students who most fit a description of ASD-associated characteristics, and completed the Autism Syndrome Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) on every child in the classroom. The proportion of overall agreement between teacher nomination and ASSQ was 93-95%, depending upon the nomination parameters. Nomination required 15 min per class versus 3.5-5.5 h per class for the ASSQ. These results support the need for further study of teacher nomination strategies to identify children at risk for ASD.

Validation of the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire, Mandarin Chinese Version (CH-ASSQ) in Beijing, China

“…The screening instruments used so far have mostly aimed at strictly defined cases of autistic disorder, and so are likely to miss so-called high-functioning cases such as Asperger syndrome. Though originally developed for high-functioning ASD, the ASSQ has been widely used in European populations as a screening instrument for all types of ASD (Allik et al, 2006; Hepburn et al, 2008; Indredavik et al, 2007; Mattila et al, 2009; Petersen et al, 2006; Posserud et al, 2008; M Posserud et al, 2009; MB Posserud et al, 2009; Webb et al, 2003).…”

Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder in a large Italian catchment area: a school-based population study within the ASDEU project

“…The form requested that a minimum of two and a maximum of four children be nominated, regardless of how many children in the class fit the description and even if teachers felt that none of the children really fit the description. The TN strategy was compared with the ASSQ (Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire; Ehlers et al, 1999) strategy (which takes about 2 h per class) by Hepburn et al (2008), who showed that the proportion of overall agreement between the two measures ranged from 93 to 95% and that the nomination strategy was more sensitive when teachers were asked to nominate at least two children.…”

Utility of the Social Communication Questionnaire-Current and Social Responsiveness Scale as Teacher-Report Screening Tools for Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Given limited resources, teacher nomination may be a highly feasible and economical way to screen students who may have behaviors consistent with ASD. Hepburn et al (2008) compared the use of classroom-based teacher nominations in screening children for ASD in a general-education setting with results from the Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (Ehlers et al 1999). The nomination form provided to teachers listed characteristics of ASD and instructed teachers to nominate two students most fitting those characteristics in his or her classroom.…”