Developmental profiles of children at risk for autism spectrum disorder at school entry.
Angie Ip, Brenda T Poon, Gillian Hanley and 2 others
PMID 35586913WHAT IT FOUND
Children referred for autism assessment but not diagnosed showed functional profiles at school entry nearly identical to those who were diagnosed.
Both groups scored significantly lower than typically developing peers across social, emotional, and communication domains, suggesting comparable support needs despite differing funding eligibility.
Key findings
01Children assessed for autism but not diagnosed had similar EDI domain score patterns to those diagnosed with autism.
02The non-diagnosed group scored slightly higher than the diagnosed group in most domains, but effect sizes were small to medium.
03Children not diagnosed with autism were more likely to have ADHD-related diagnoses and psychotropic prescriptions than those diagnosed with autism.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study relied on teacher-reported EDI scores, which provide a broad view of development but lack specificity regarding individual clinical deficits. Identification of other neurodevelopmental disorders was limited by the lack of specific Ministry of Education codes for conditions like ADHD or language disorder, relying instead on non-specific ICD-9 codes. The analysis did not account for clustering at the teacher level, which may have underestimated standard errors. Data on prior private or public therapy interventions were unavailable, so it is unclear if treatment history influenced school-entry profiles.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest. Funding was provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, and the Sunny Hill Foundation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a negative autism assessment equates to a lack of need for support. These children have functional profiles nearly identical to diagnosed peers but are significantly less likely to receive school-based funding, suggesting a gap in service access rather than a difference in clinical need.