Recorded presentation

Craig J. Newschaffer, PhD¹, Susan DosReis, PhD², Courtney L. Weiner², and Nora L. Lee¹. (1) Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Room E6040, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410-955-1268, cnewscha@jhsph.edu, (2) Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, 600 N. Wolfe Street, CMSC 346, Baltimore, MD 21287

Children under the regular care of a pediatrician will have several well-child visits during early childhood, the age when symptoms indicative of autism emerge. Although general developmental/behavioral assessments are recommended for all well-child visits, it is unclear to what extent these are being utilized in practice. Barriers to providing such assessments in routine pediatric practice are not well understood. Moreover, given reports of increased autism prevalence and the evidence supporting effectiveness of intensive early educational interventions for children with autism, there has been growing discussion in public health, clinical, and advocacy forums as to whether more autism-specific screening needs to take place in practice settings. To begin to address this public health issue, we developed a pediatrician questionnaire to identify the extent to which developmental/behavioral assessments, both general and autism-specific, are routinely administered in pediatric practice and to determine which factors or situations influence the use of such assessments. In this presentation, we will: 1) report findings from our recent survey of Maryland and Delaware pediatricians, 2) review epidemiologic criteria for judging the effectiveness of screening strategies, and 3) discuss the scientific evidence supporting existing guidelines for practice-based autism screening.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe current practice patterns regarding developmental/behavioral assessment by pediatricians.
• Discuss criteria for judging the effectiveness of screening strategies.
• Describe guidelines for best practice in screening for autism.

Keywords: Children With Special Needs, Assessments

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation