Efficacy of brief quantitative measures of play for screening for autism spectrum disorders

J Autism Dev Disord. 2010 Mar;40(3):325-33. doi: 10.1007/s10803-009-0880-7.

Abstract

Quick and effective screening measures are needed for detecting Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Thirty typically developing children and 30 children with ASD aged 24-68 months were used. This study explored if the ASD group would exhibit less object exploration, diversity of play, and turn-taking than the typically developing group. Older children with ASD performed less turn-taking. On all other measures, IQ accounted for more of the difference between groups than diagnosis. Implications of these results for future research are discussed.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Child
  • Child Development
  • Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / diagnosis*
  • Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / psychology
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cognition
  • Developmental Disabilities / diagnosis*
  • Developmental Disabilities / psychology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intelligence
  • Language
  • Male
  • Motor Activity
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Play and Playthings / psychology*
  • Psychomotor Performance*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Social Adjustment*
  • Visual Perception