AIM This study examined the utility of standard autism diagnostic measures in nine children (aged 5-9y) with severe vision impairment and a range of social and language functioning. METHOD The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the Autism DiagnosticInterview, Revised (ADI-R) were systematically modified and used to assess symptoms of autism in children with vision less than or equal to 20/800, the majority of whom had optic nerve hypoplasia. The results of the assessments, including analysis of symptom patterns, were compared with expert autism diagnoses. RESULTS Modified autism measures demonstrated good agreement with clinical diagnoses.Symptoms found to be most and least reliable in discriminating autism from behaviors common to most children with congenital vision impairment are described. Comparisons of current behavior with parent-reported behaviors from a younger age suggested that some symptoms of autism in very young children who are congenitally blind may improve with age.

Given the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in health research (Heiat et al. in Arch Int Med 162(15):1-17, 2002; Kelly et al. in J Nat Med Assoc 97:777-783, 2005; United States Department of Health and Human Services. Monitoring adherence to the NIH policy on the inclusion of women and minorities as subjects in clinical research. http://orwh.od.nih.gov/research/inclusion/reports.asp , 2013), this study evaluated promising strategies to effectively recruit Latinos into genetic research on autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The study included 97 children, aged 5-17 years, with ASD; 82.5 % of the participants were identified as Latino/Hispanic. Traditional and culture-specific recruitment and retention strategies were compared between the Latino and non-Latino groups. Culture-specific, parent-centered approaches were found to be successful in engaging and retaining Latino participants for research involving genetic testing.

Previous studies have shown that different provider approaches, amount of familiarity with the referral and screening process, and level of interagency communication can increase or decrease the likelihood of caregivers completing a recommended referral to early intervention (EI). We surveyed 60 family practitioners and pediatricians at 2 primary care clinics to assess these factors. Pediatricians were more likely than family practitioners to report using, evaluating, and discussing the results of developmental screens. Providers with more experience and recent training expressed more confidence in their ability to describe the EI system to families. Most providers expressed a lack of confidence in their own agency to complete referrals or EI to provide follow-up. The knowledge gaps and communication problems identified in this study could serve as a basis for future interventional work.