Screening Cases Within a Statewide Autism Registry

Abstract

Parents and caregivers of 70 children enrolled in a university-based, statewide autism registry ( M age = 9.5 years) completed two questionnaires, one generated from criteria outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—Fourth Edition—Text Revision ( DSM-IV-TR) and the other the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), to determine the number of cases likely to have autism. Based on DSM-IV-TR questionnaire ( DSM-Q) results, 94.3% met criteria for probable autism. In contrast, 88.6% met criteria for possible autism with the SCQ. The two instruments agreed on 89% of the cases, and the frequencies of cases meeting criteria on each measure were not statistically different ( p > .05). Results are discussed in terms of their application to the creation of local autism registries.