ABSTRACT
Purpose
To analyze the parental responses to questions investigating classic signs of autism using two different instruments (IRDI-questionnaire and M-Chat).
Methods
Forty-one children, 80% male, with a mean age of 2 years and 8 months, who were evaluated with two autism screening tools recommended by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. After administration of both tools, seven questions were selected to make up the instruments and illustrate symbolically the classic signs of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), answered by the parents of the subjects for further analysis. The subjects did not have a formal diagnosis of ASD, or any other diagnosis.
Results
The main predictors of importance were questions about “make-believe” playing, interest of the child in other children, the child’s response to “motherese”, and exchange of glances between mother and child.
Conclusion
Not all questions referring to the typical signs of autism showed to be good predictors of importance in the conducted analysis. The data lead us to reflect on a need to analyze a set of signs and not only isolated signs when facing a child with suspected ASD.
Autistic disorder; Early diagnosis; Surveys and questionnaires; Speech, language and hearing sciences; Diagnosis
