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Can Autism Be Diagnosed Accurately in Children Under 3 Years?
Author(s) -
Stone Wendy L.,
Lee Evon B.,
Ashford Linda,
Brissie Jane,
Hepburn Susan L.,
Coonrod Elaine E.,
Weiss Bahr H.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/1469-7610.00435
Subject(s) - autism , psychology , autism spectrum disorder , clinical psychology , reliability (semiconductor) , developmental psychology , audiology , psychiatry , pediatrics , medicine , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics
This study investigated the reliability and stability of an autism diagnosis in children under 3 years of age who received independent diagnostic evaluations from two clinicians during two consecutive yearly evaluations. Strong evidence for the reliability and stability of the diagnosis was obtained. Diagnostic agreement between clinicians was higher for the broader discrimination of autism spectrum vs. no autism spectrum than for the more specific discrimination of autism vs. PDD‐NOS. The diagnosis of autism at age 2 was more stable than the diagnosis of PDD‐NOS at the same age. Social deficits and delays in spoken language were the most prominent DSM‐IV characteristics evidenced by very young children with autism.