Preschool Staff Spot Social Communication Difficulties, But Not Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors in Young Autistic Children

The study investigates how accurately kindergarten staff measure and report characteristics of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in three-year-olds. This applies in particular to the assessment of deviations in mutual interaction and communication skills (CSI) and restricted and repetitive behaviours (RRB). The authors investigate whether kindergartens are able to distinguish between children who have already been diagnosed with ASD, or are at risk of developing ASD, and children who are not. The study also compares diagnoses made by kindergartens with clinical assessments of the same children.

The results show that kindergarten employees’ assessment of possible ASD correlated with the clinical assessments regarding the children’s interaction and communication (CSI). The kindergarten employees’ assessments of possible restricted and repetitive behaviours (RRB) failed to distinguish between children at low risk of developing ASD and the other two groups in the sample. In addition, these kindergarten assessments did not correlate with the clinical assessments. Therefore, the authors conclude that direct observation carried out by clinical staff is best when investigating whether a child has an autism disorder. 

The sample consists of a total of 64 Swedish kindergarten children, who were 3 years old when the investigations were carried out. 36 of the children were at high risk of developing ASD but had not yet received a diagnosis. 12 of the children were in the high-risk group and had been diagnosed with ASD, while 16 of the children were at low risk of developing ASD.  Information was provided by 36 kindergarten teachers, 23 skilled workers and five assistants. In most cases, the kindergarten staff had known the children for more than six months.

Jobs, E. N., Bölte, S. & Falck-Ytter, T. (2019). “Preschool Staff Spot Social Communication Difficulties, But Not Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors in Young Autistic Children”. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(5):1928–1936.