Autism-World

The CHAT is a screening tool developed for pediatricians to use at the 18-month checkup for children. Clinicians complete 5 items based on observation and ask parents to answer yes/no to an additional 9 items. Each section takes an average of 5 minutes to complete. If parents suspect a pervasive developmental disorder, they can print out this scale, complete the parent items, and take it to their primary care provider.

The CHAT consists of nine yes/no questions to be answered by the child’s parent. These questions ask if the child exhibits specific behaviors, including: social play, social interest in other children, pretend play, joint attention, pointing to ask for something, pointing to indicate interest in something, rough and tumble play, motor development, and functional play. The CHAT also includes observations of five brief interactions between the child and the examiner, which enable the clinician to compare the child’s actual behavior with the parental reports.

Tips:

• It is important to identify children with autism as early as possible. The CHAT is a useful first-level screening method for children from 18 to 36 months of age in which there is any level of concern about possible autism. [A]
• If screening using the CHAT suggests possible autism, further assessment is needed to determine a diagnosis. [A]
  If screening using the CHAT suggests autism is unlikely, it is still important to:
• assess the child for other developmental or medical problems that may have caused the initial concern
  continue regular periodic surveillance for problems that may be related to the cause of the initial concern [A]
• It is important to remember that not all children with autism can be identified early. Because the time of onset and severity of symptoms vary, it is recommended that screening be repeated at various age levels when concerns for autism persist. [D1]

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 at 10:21 pm and is filed under Autism Diagnosis.