American researchers have developed a new questionnaire to diagnose autism. Intended for parents, it should allow researchers to intervene faster and better in the event of a positive diagnosis.
Only 15% of autistic children benefit from a diagnosis and appropriate support in France. This is the conclusion ofa report from the Court of Auditors published last December. Knowledge and management of autism must be improved according to them. This is one of the challenges of the fourth autism plan, which should be unveiled in the coming weeks.
Among the issues in the management of autism disorders: improving early diagnosis. Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey are releasing a new two-minute questionnaire for parents. It should make it possible to alert practitioners and caregivers to enable them to intervene earlier. The results were relayed by Eurekalert!.
88% of correct results
“Even though autism awareness is high in New Jersey and even though we have very good resources, far too many children, especially from underprivileged backgrounds, are being diagnosed too late,” says Walter Zaharodny, the author. principal of this research. 1959 children aged 18 to 36 months participated in the study. It tested the effectiveness of this new test, called Psychological Development Questionnaire (PDQ-1). It has an 88% chance of correctly diagnosing autism in these young people. Several questions are asked of parents, they concern the child’s reaction when his name is said, his ability to formulate sentences, his relationship to others, etc. This test is a preliminary step to other tests carried out with professionals. “If we are to improve early detection, easy-to-use and reliable autism detection tools must be used,” adds the scientist.
650,000 in France are said to have autism according to the association Vaincre l’Autisme.
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