Autism Diagnostic Impressions in Young Children Formed by Primary Care Clinicians and through Telemedicine Expert Assessments
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| Title: | Autism Diagnostic Impressions in Young Children Formed by Primary Care Clinicians and through Telemedicine Expert Assessments |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Andrea Trubanova Wieckowski (ORCID |
| Source: | Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice. 2025 29(11):2898-2905. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 8 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Autism Spectrum Disorders, Toddlers, Disability Identification, Clinical Diagnosis, Health Services, Teleconferencing, Diagnostic Tests, Observation, Cognitive Ability, Motor Development, Adjustment (to Environment), Behavior Rating Scales, Accuracy |
| Assessment and Survey Identifiers: | Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Mullen Scales of Early Learning, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales |
| DOI: | 10.1177/13623613251355257 |
| ISSN: | 1362-3613 1461-7005 |
| Abstract: | Formal autism diagnosis is often critical for children to access early, autism-specific services and supports. However, barriers to traditional in-person evaluations, including long waitlists, delay diagnosis. The goal of the current study was to compare diagnostic impressions (i.e. clinical judgments) made by primary care clinicians and autism experts conducting brief telehealth sessions, with expert diagnosis from in-person gold-standard evaluations. Participants were toddlers (n = 32, age 12-36 months) referred for any developmental concerns by four primary care clinicians from one pediatric practice in the United States. Primary care clinicians indicated their diagnostic classification and families then completed telehealth evaluations and in-person evaluations with one of five autism diagnostic expert clinicians. When primary care clinicians classified a child as having definite autism (n = 11), they were 100% accurate, but only 57% accurate when they indicated a child definitely did not have autism. Experts providing classification after a telehealth evaluation accurately classified 72% of children and were confident in the diagnosis for 55% of cases. In high-confidence cases, telehealth diagnosis matched final diagnosis 88% of the time. These findings indicate that when primary care clinicians believe a toddler is autistic, or when autism experts indicate autism telehealth classification with confidence, the child should begin receiving autism-specific services and supports right away. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1486799 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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