Although early detection of autism facilitates intervention, early detection strategies are not yet widespread in China. To improve the situation, the Chinese version of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F) was validated. The sample included 7928 toddlers, aged 16 to 30 months, screened during their…

In order to start providing important early intervention services to preschoolers and toddlers with autism, those children first need to be identified. Despite the availability of specialized autism assessment instruments, there is a need for effective screeners at the early childhood level. Three broadband behavior rating scales were evaluated in…

The purpose of this article is to help early interventionists who work with families of toddlers showing early signs of autism think through the "what" and the "how" of early intervention for toddlers with social communication difficulties, even though the child has not yet been diagnosed. Questions include the following: (1)…

Symbolic play is a powerful vehicle for supporting emotional development and communication. It embraces all developmental capacities. This article describes how symbols are formed and how emotional themes are symbolized whereby children reveal their understanding of the world, their feelings and relationships, and how they see themselves in the…

Early detection and intervention is essential for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Therefore, we examined the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Modified Checklist for autism in toddlers (M-CHAT), a 23-item, yes-no questionnaire regarding early autistic symptoms completed by parents of children at 18-24 months of…

The increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorders as well as emerging evidence of the efficacy of early intervention has focused attention on the need for early identification of young children suspected of having an ASSD. Several studies have suggested that while parents report concerns early in development, it may be months before children…

The use of applied behavior analysis (ABA) to treat persons with autism goes back several decades. Many specific target behaviors and intervention strategies have been developed. In the last two decades the most heavily studied of these methods has been Early Intensive Behavioral Interventions (EIBI). This package of ABA methods is unique in two…

Autism is an extensively studied disorder in which the gender disparity in prevalence has received much attention. In contrast, only a few studies examine gender differences in symptomatology. This systematic review and meta-analysis of 22 peer reviewed original publications examines gender differences in the core triad of impairments in autism.…

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are life-long developmental disorders characterized by impairments in the development of reciprocal social and communication skills, abnormal language development, and a restricted repertoire of behaviors and interests. While it has been known for some time that children with ASD can evince elevated rates of…

No feasible screening instrument is available for early detection of children with autism in Taiwan. The existing instruments may not be appropriate for use in Taiwan due to different health care systems and child-rearing cultures. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a screening questionnaire for generic autism. The initial 18-item…

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are well-known for engagement in challenging behaviors. Unfortunately, due to its absence as a criterion for diagnosis in the "DSM-IV-TR", little attention has been paid to the endorsement rates of such behaviors. However, a recently developed measure to assist in the diagnosis of infants and toddlers…

Empathy deficits represent an important social impairment in autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but little is known about the early development of empathy prior to diagnosis. This study examined empathic responding to parental distress in toddlers at risk for an ASD. Children later diagnosed with an ASD engaged in less empathic responding at 24 and…

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are characterized by pervasive impairments in repetitive behaviors or interests, communication, and socialization. As the onset of these features occurs at a very young age, early detection is of the utmost importance. In an attempt to better clarify the behavioral presentation of communication and socialization…

Little is known about the symptoms of anxiety in very young children with autism spectrum disorders, particularly comparisons between Autistic Disorder (AD) and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). In the current study, toddlers (i.e., 17-37 months of age) with diagnoses of either AD (N = 159) or PDD-NOS (N = 154)…

We examined social attention and attention shifting during (a) a play interaction between 12-month olds and an examiner and (b) after the examiner pretended to hurt herself. We coded the target and duration of infants' visual fixations and frequency of attention shifts. Siblings of children with autism and controls with no family history of autism…