http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/autism-spectrum-disorder-in-young-children-screening
I was trawling my Twitter this morning, when I came across this and the .pdf that contains the full report. I wasn't aware the US government had such a task force, but apparently it handles everything from aspirin to autism. They investigated the evidence and reliability of testing all children, aged 18-30 months, for autism. The final rating was I, for Insufficient. In short, the task force claims the current evidence doesn't paint a clear enough picture of the benefits and harms of testing all children for autism.
I have mixed feelings about screenings for kids, given that I went my entire childhood without a diagnosis. I always kind've knew, way in the back of my head, that I was different than most people. But I had no name for that difference, no clue of how to deal with my various difficulties, and no sense of how to work with any of it. I blundered along, sinking or swimming as well as I could.
At present I don't have a clear picture of how an early diagnosis harms or helps kids, either. So I guess the task force and I have that in common. In reading through the report, the task force did conclude the potential harm of testing all children was "no greater than small." So they're less worried about harm done to the populace overall and apparently simply unsure if the current tests do the job well enough.
The only test they focused heavily on was the M-CHAT, which you can actually find online for free: https://m-chat.org/ . The T in M-CHAT stands for Toddler, which is probably why it's the only test listed in the report. There are others. When I worked at the Hope Network Center for Autism, they almost invariably used the ADOS (not free). That test, so far as I can tell, can scale all the way up to adulthood. It's less a test on paper and more an interview with various tasks for the testee to do. The person giving the ADOS observes, looking for several key traits of autism. In the younger modules, there's even a break to get a snack, and a break to go play for a short time.
I'm unsure as to what test in specific I was given when diagnosed. At the time, I hadn't learned about the specifics of the autism tests, so while I could easily recognize an IQ test, a visual memory test, or the purpose of a "social stories" test, I can't say why I specifically got my diagnosis. Pretty sure it wasn't the ADOS, though. I should probably request a copy of the test results, but the last time I dealt with the people who tested me, they all but ignored me. It was a wee bit frustrating, and ultimately cost me a job opportunity.
I was trawling my Twitter this morning, when I came across this and the .pdf that contains the full report. I wasn't aware the US government had such a task force, but apparently it handles everything from aspirin to autism. They investigated the evidence and reliability of testing all children, aged 18-30 months, for autism. The final rating was I, for Insufficient. In short, the task force claims the current evidence doesn't paint a clear enough picture of the benefits and harms of testing all children for autism.
I have mixed feelings about screenings for kids, given that I went my entire childhood without a diagnosis. I always kind've knew, way in the back of my head, that I was different than most people. But I had no name for that difference, no clue of how to deal with my various difficulties, and no sense of how to work with any of it. I blundered along, sinking or swimming as well as I could.
At present I don't have a clear picture of how an early diagnosis harms or helps kids, either. So I guess the task force and I have that in common. In reading through the report, the task force did conclude the potential harm of testing all children was "no greater than small." So they're less worried about harm done to the populace overall and apparently simply unsure if the current tests do the job well enough.
The only test they focused heavily on was the M-CHAT, which you can actually find online for free: https://m-chat.org/ . The T in M-CHAT stands for Toddler, which is probably why it's the only test listed in the report. There are others. When I worked at the Hope Network Center for Autism, they almost invariably used the ADOS (not free). That test, so far as I can tell, can scale all the way up to adulthood. It's less a test on paper and more an interview with various tasks for the testee to do. The person giving the ADOS observes, looking for several key traits of autism. In the younger modules, there's even a break to get a snack, and a break to go play for a short time.
I'm unsure as to what test in specific I was given when diagnosed. At the time, I hadn't learned about the specifics of the autism tests, so while I could easily recognize an IQ test, a visual memory test, or the purpose of a "social stories" test, I can't say why I specifically got my diagnosis. Pretty sure it wasn't the ADOS, though. I should probably request a copy of the test results, but the last time I dealt with the people who tested me, they all but ignored me. It was a wee bit frustrating, and ultimately cost me a job opportunity.
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