TY - JOUR
T1 - The Importance of Language Delays as an Early Indicator of Subsequent ASD Diagnosis in Public Healthcare Settings
AU - Nitzan, Tanya
AU - Koller, Judah
AU - Ilan, Michal
AU - Faroy, Michal
AU - Michaelovski, Analya
AU - Menashe, Idan
AU - Meiri, Gal
AU - Dinstein, Ilan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Previous studies have reported that ASD children with more severe symptoms are diagnosed earlier. However, previous studies in community settings have mostly relied on retrospective parental reports without the use of quantitative standardized test scores. Here, we evaluated the association of language, cognitive, and ASD severity standardized scores with the age of diagnosis in 1-6-year-old children diagnosed in a public healthcare setting. The results revealed that language scores were the strongest variable associated with the age of diagnosis, explaining ~ 30% of the variability across children. Indeed, all children diagnosed before 30-months of age exhibited moderate-to-severe language delays. These results further substantiate the prominence of language delay as a highly visible symptom associated with earlier ASD diagnosis in community clinical settings.
AB - Previous studies have reported that ASD children with more severe symptoms are diagnosed earlier. However, previous studies in community settings have mostly relied on retrospective parental reports without the use of quantitative standardized test scores. Here, we evaluated the association of language, cognitive, and ASD severity standardized scores with the age of diagnosis in 1-6-year-old children diagnosed in a public healthcare setting. The results revealed that language scores were the strongest variable associated with the age of diagnosis, explaining ~ 30% of the variability across children. Indeed, all children diagnosed before 30-months of age exhibited moderate-to-severe language delays. These results further substantiate the prominence of language delay as a highly visible symptom associated with earlier ASD diagnosis in community clinical settings.
KW - Autism
KW - Autism spectrum disorders
KW - Early diagnosis, delayed diagnosis
KW - Language delay
KW - Speech delay
KW - Symptom severity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139664712&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10803-022-05757-y
DO - 10.1007/s10803-022-05757-y
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C2 - 36222994
AN - SCOPUS:85139664712
SN - 0162-3257
VL - 53
SP - 4535
EP - 4544
JO - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
JF - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
IS - 12
ER -