Brief report: pilot investigation of service receipt by young children with autistic spectrum disorders

Whether children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families are receiving recommended assessments and services is poorly known. This pilot study examined service receipt as reported by parents of young children with ASD (n = 64) from four specialty centers in Canada. While almost all children had a speech and language assessment (94%), less than half had psychological (42%), or genetic (31%) testing. Speech and language (88%) and occupational (78%) therapies were the most frequently received treatments. Overall, certain findings did not correspond to recent recommended practice guidelines. Future studies should obtain more detailed information on assessments and treatments received from larger and more representative samples to better determine the quality of care received by families with children with ASD.