Checklist & Screening Tool for Autism in Toddlers

It has been shown that children respond best to autism therapies the earlier they begin to receive them. Fortunately, knowledge about autism spectrum disorders has grown in the last few years, and it is now easier to identify children with autistic tendencies at a younger age. The primary tool for finding an autism spectrum disorder is the M-CHAT or modified checklist of autism in toddlers. This test is available online and contains 23 questions about how your child interacts. The Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) is a longer, more in-depth test intended for children older than 24 months.

Kanner's Autism

• Kanner's autism is "traditional autism" and is usually considered the lowest functioning form of autism. Fortunately, some children do graduate to a less severe diagnoses such as Asperger's or PDD. This form of autism is usually visible by 2 years of age due to the severity of some of the symptoms. It is also sometimes marked by a regression in skills, where in, around the age of 18 months, a child begins to lose abilities such as babbling, crawling, playing and so on.

PDD-NOS

• PDD-NOS means Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified. It is basically a catch-all term for those who have autistic behaviors as well as other difficulties. PDD is a sort of moderate autism, when compared with the severity of Kanner's and the high-functioning Aspie. Like Kanner's, it begins to appear around 18 months.

Asperger's or High Functioning Autism

• The exact differences between high-functioning autism and Asperger's are unknown, although some speculate that those with Asperger's never experience a regression in language, but there have been no conclusive studies on the subject. Many doctors find them indistinguishable from each other and some speculate that they are the same disorder, but HFA is the name given to children who "graduate" from traditional autism. Unlike traditional autism, children with Asperger's or HFA are often times considered precocious and are sometimes highly verbal. The oddness of their use of language is sometimes one of the few clues that these children even have autism. These children rarely have reciprocal conversations; rather, they talk at a person, not to them. Children with HFA or Asperger's are generally diagnosed at a later date, possibly because their difficulties are not as immediately obvious. Dr. Simon Baron Cohen developed the Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test (CAST), a checklist for HFA and Asperger's.

Rett's

• Rett's Syndrome has an onset as early as 5 months of age, but prior to 4 years of age. While technically a pervasive developmental disorder, it is commonly misdiagnosed as autism. This rare disorder is seen almost exclusively in girls and is caused by mutations on the X chromosome on a gene called MECP2.

General Checklist for Autism

• The following are general signs of autism and counts for all the spectrum disorders. There are no diagnostic checklists as of 2010 for children under a year old, so "soft markers" are a general guide as some children just develop slower than usually.
  6-12 Month Markers:
  Rare eye contact
  Not babbling by 12 months
  Not responding to name
  Does not reciprocate (wave to someone who waves, smile at someone who smiles, etc)
  Apparent preference for objects over people

  By 12 Months:
  Poor or no eye contact
  Not responding to name (appears deaf)
  Not imitating
  Not gesturing by 12 months

  By 16 Months:
  Not speaking single words by 16 months
  Not sharing (pointing to) things of interest

  By 24 Months:
  Not spontaneously forming two-word phrases (does not include echolalia, which is repeating another person's word exactly without understanding them)
  Regression or loss of any language or social skills at any age