Identifying High Ability Children with DSM-5 Autism Spectrum or Social Communication Disorder: Performance on Autism Diagnostic Instruments

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 460 - 471
• Main Authors: Foley-Nicpon, Megan, L. Fosenburg, Staci, G. Wurster, Kristin, Assouline, Susan G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2017; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Ability Identification; Adolescent; Adolescents; Algorithms; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic children; Autistic Disorder - diagnosis; Autistic Disorder - psychology; Behavior Patterns; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Child and School Psychology; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Clinical Diagnosis; Cognitive Ability; Communication; Communication disorders; Communication Problems; Developmental disabilities; Developmental Disabilities - diagnosis; Developmental Disabilities - psychology; Diagnosis; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Diagnostic Tests; Female; Gifted Disabled; Guidelines; Humans; Inferences; Interpersonal Relationship; Language Impairments; Language Skills; Male; Mathematics; Measurement Techniques; Medical diagnosis; Meta Analysis; Neurosciences; Observation; Original Paper; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Psychological Patterns; Psychology; Public Health; Scores; Social Communication Disorder - diagnosis; Social Communication Disorder - psychology; Social Development; Studies; United States > US; High ability; Autism; ASD; DSM-5; SCD
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-2973-4

This study was a replication of Mazefsky et al.’s (Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities 43:1236–1242, 2013 ) investigation among a sample of 45 high ability children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD under DSM-IV-TR. Items from the ADOS and ADI-R were mapped onto DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ASD and SCD to determine whether participants would meet either diagnosis under DSM-5. If the ADOS were administered alone, 62% of individuals diagnosed with ASD would no longer meet criteria under DSM-5; however, when the ADI-R and ADOS scores were combined, 100% of individuals would continue to meet ASD diagnosis. The ADOS was determined to be an insufficient measure for SCD due to the small number of algorithm items measuring SCD diagnostic criteria, suggesting the development of SCD measures is required.