**Prevalence and Diagnosis**

**Chapter 1**

**Promoting Early Identification of Autism in the Primary**

**Care Setting: Bridging the Gap Between What We Know**

During the last decade, research on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has made tremendous progress with regard to early identification and diagnosis. These advances were made possible by a growing number of rigorous research studies with large sample sizes that utilized a combination of: (1) retrospective parent report and home video studies [1], (2) prospective studies of infant siblings of children with ASD [2], (3) population-wide studies of ASD screening tools [3], and (4) studies on the early stability of diagnostic classifications [4]. Advances in best practices related to early identification are reflected in a 2006 policy statement published by the American Academy of Pediatrics [5], and a corresponding set of clinical practice guidelines [6]. According to these guidelines, it is recommended that Primary Care Providers (PCPs; e.g., family physicians, pediatricians) administer formal screening tests during every well-child visit scheduled at 18 and 24 months, independent of known risk factors or reported concerns. Moreover, PCPs are urged to promptly refer children for Early Inter‐

Even though the age of first diagnosis has gradually decreased during the last decade [7], population based studies reveal that most children with ASD continue to be diagnosed after three years of age [8]. Given that a reliable diagnosis of ASD is possible by 24 months, and that about 90% of parents whose children are later diagnosed with ASD express documented concerns before age 2 [9], the gap between best practice guidelines and community imple‐

1 Throughout this chapter, we use capital letters when referring to the publicly funded Early Intervention system

© 2013 Siller et al.; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

© 2013 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

**and What We Do**

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53715

**1. Introduction**

vention1

Michael Siller, Lindee Morgan,

Meghan Swanson and Emily Hotez

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

services as soon as ASD is seriously considered.

**Chapter 1**
