Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) Norms: A "Growth Chart" for ATEC Score Changes as a Function of Age

Shreyas Mahapatra, David Vyshedsky, Samantha Martinez, Benjamin Kannel, Julia Braverman, Stephen M Edelson, Andrey Vyshedskiy, Shreyas Mahapatra, David Vyshedsky, Samantha Martinez, Benjamin Kannel, Julia Braverman, Stephen M Edelson, Andrey Vyshedskiy

Abstract

Most early-intervention Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) clinical trials are limited by the availability of psychometric technicians who assess each child's abilities before and after therapeutic intervention. If parents could administer regular psychometric evaluations of their children, then the cost of clinical trials will be reduced, enabling longer clinical trials with the larger number of participants. The Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) was designed nearly two decades ago to provide such a tool, but the norms on the longitudinal changes in ATEC in the "treatment as usual" population were lacking. Here we report the norms of the observational cohort who voluntarily completed ATEC evaluations over the period of four years from 2013 to 2017.

Keywords: ASD; ATEC; Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist; autism; psychological evaluations.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pair-wise changes in the total Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) score from one whole-year age to another. Each point represents an average of all participants who completed their first evaluation at one whole-year age and their second evaluation at a following whole-year age. For example, in the 2 to 3 age-pair calculation norms (vertical arrow), a participant must have completed their first evaluation anytime between the ages 1.5 to 2.5 years and a second evaluation between the ages 2.5 and 3.5 years.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Continuous changes of the total ATEC score over age calculated from pair-wise observations using the “relay” procedure. To find out a typical trajectory for a child, (1) find the point on the graph corresponding to the child’s current age and score; (2) locate the trajectory line under the point; (3) follow the trajectory line to read the typical ATEC total score at any age. For example, a typical child with ATEC total score of 116 at age 2 is expected to reduce ATEC total score to 86 at age 3; 68 at age 4; 56 at age 5; 48 at age 6; 39 at age 7; 36 at age 8; 32 at age 9; 27 at age 10; 26 at age 11; and 28 at age 12.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Continuous changes of the Speech/Language/Communication subscale score over age calculated from pair-wise observations using the “relay” procedure.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Continuous changes of the Sociability subscale score over age calculated from pair-wise observations using the “relay” procedure.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Continuous changes of the Sensory/Cognitive awareness subscale score over age calculated from pair-wise observations using the “relay” procedure.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Continuous changes of the Health/Physical/Behavior subscale score over age calculated from pair-wise observations using the “relay” procedure.

References

    1. Dawson G., Rogers S., Munson J., Smith M., Winter J., Greenson J., Donaldson A., Varley J. Randomized, controlled trial of an intervention for toddlers with autism: The Early Start Denver Model. Pediatrics. 2010;125:e17–e23. doi: 10.1542/peds.2009-0958.
    1. Remington B., Hastings R.P., Kovshoff H., degli Espinosa F., Jahr E., Brown T., Alsford P., Lemaic M., Ward N. Early intensive behavioral intervention: Outcomes for children with autism and their parents after two years. Am. J. Ment. Retard. 2007;112:418–438. doi: 10.1352/0895-8017(2007)112[418:EIBIOF];2.
    1. Rimland B., Edelson S. Autism Research Institute. Autism Treatment Evaluation checklist (ATEC) 1999
    1. Al Backer N.B. Correlation between Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) and Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) in the evaluation of autism spectrum disorder. Sudan. J. Paediatr. 2016;16:17–22.
    1. Geier D.A., Kern J.K., Geier M.R. A comparison of the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) for the quantitative evaluation of autism. J. Ment. Health Res. Intellect. Disabil. 2013;6:255–267. doi: 10.1080/19315864.2012.681340.
    1. Jarusiewicz B. Efficacy of Neurofeedback for Children in the Autistic Spectrum: A Pilot Study. J. Neurother. 2002;6:39–49. doi: 10.1300/J184v06n04_05.
    1. Magiati I., Moss J., Yates R., Charman T., Howlin P. Is the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist a useful tool for monitoring progress in children with autism spectrum disorders? J. Intellect. Disabil. Res. 2011;55:302–312. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01359.x.
    1. Charman T., Howlin P., Berry B., Prince E. Measuring developmental progress of children with autism spectrum disorder on school entry using parent report. Autism. 2004;8:89–100. doi: 10.1177/1362361304040641.
    1. Klaveness J., Bigam J., Reichelt K.L. The varied rate of response to dietary intervention in autistic children. Open J. Psychiatry. 2013;3:56–60. doi: 10.4236/ojpsych.2013.32A009.
    1. Whitehouse A.J.O., Granich J., Alvares G.A., Busacca M., Cooper M.N., Dass A., Duong T., Harper R., Marshall W., Richdale A.L., et al. A randomised controlled trial of an iPad-based application to complement early behavioural intervention in Autism Spectrum Disorder. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry. 2017;58:1042–1052. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12752.
    1. Drew A., Baird G., Baron-Cohen S., Cox A., Slonims V., Wheelwright S., Swettenham J., Berry B., Charman T. A pilot randomised control trial of a parent training intervention for pre-school children with autism. Eur. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry. 2002;11:266–272. doi: 10.1007/s00787-002-0299-6.
    1. Lord C., Risi S., Lambrecht L., Cook E.H., Jr., Leventhal B.L., DiLavore P.C., Pickles A., Rutter M. The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule—Generic: A standard measure of social and communication deficits associated with the spectrum of autism. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 2000;30:205–223. doi: 10.1023/A:1005592401947.
    1. Schopler E., Reichler R.J., Renner B.R. The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) Western Psychological Services; Los Angeles, CA, USA: 2002.
    1. Mullen E.M. Mullen Scales of Early Learning. American Guidance Service; Circle Pines, MN, USA: 1995.
    1. Gotham K., Pickles A., Lord C. Standardizing ADOS scores for a measure of severity in autism spectrum disorders. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 2009;39:693–705. doi: 10.1007/s10803-008-0674-3.
    1. Mahapatra S., Khokhlovich E., Martinez S., Kannel B., Edelson S.M., Vyshedskiy A. Epidemiological Study of Autism Subgroups Using Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) Score. bioRxiv. 2018 doi: 10.1101/266221..

Source: PubMed

Sponsors en medewerkers

Medische omstandigheden

Geneesmiddelinterventies

3
Abonneren