Toward better recognition of early predictors for autism spectrum disorders

Identification and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders is essentially based on behavioral presentation and developmental history. The current average age at diagnosis is older than 3 years.

Over the past 15 years, there has been increasing documentation of the early signs of autism spectrum disorders through both individual retrospective parental reports and screening studies. Recent longitudinal studies have focused on early medical and behavioral features of children regarded at risk, namely younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders or children who required neonatal intensive care, with a later diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders.

Potentially useful early neurological signs and developmental predictors for autism spectrum disorders could be identified, with a typical profile that evolved with age.

Assessment of early social attention and communication skills with adapted scales in children before the age of 18 months in very large community-based settings may lead to high positive predictive values.