Autism Diagnosis Made Later For Children with ADHD

Autism and ADHD can share many common features, and both disorders are being diagnosed more frequently compared to previous decades.  Making matters more complicated is the accumulating evidence that the two disorders may share some underlying genetics and neurobiology.  While autism is optimally diagnosed when children are around two years of age, many are not […]

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Autism Screening – What Will Happen with the New M-CHAT?

When it comes to autism screening for toddlers, the Modified Checklist for Autism (M-CHAT) is one of the most widely used and studied instruments available (and it’s free and dowloadable).   While it’s been shown to have both good sensitivity and specificity, there is always room for improvement.  Thus was born the M-CHAT Revised with […]

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New Autism Criteria Unlikely to Cause Many Individuals to Lose Diagnosis

Concern has been raised that the proposed DSM5 changes to the criteria for autism may reduce the number of individuals who meet criteria for the diagnosis and are thus entitled to services.  You can see a previous blog posting from April that looks at some of those concerns.  The new criteria reduce the number of […]

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Autism Under the Proposed New DSM-5 Criteria

As the DSM5 moves closer to its anticipated release next year, several areas are generating widespread debate and discussion both in the public and in more academic circles.  One diagnosis certainly getting its share of attention is Autism.  Under the proposed new guidelines, a single Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will replace the different sub-diagnoses of […]

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