Demographics, Behavioral, and Diagnostic Correlates of ASD Diagnosis in Older children

In the present study, we investigated potential predictors of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Specifically, we examined three categories of predictors: demographics, behavioral, and diagnostic. Samples included school-aged children with complex social communication difficulties who were recruited from an autism center at a tertiary hospital in Israel.

Study 1 included 130 children (81.5% males, mean age of 10.97±3.41), of which 36.9% were ultimately diagnosed with ASD according to the DSM-V.
Results: Finding revealed that Ados-2 is a significant predictor of ASD diagnosis: 75.7% of those positively diagnosed with ASD had high Ados-2 scores (7 or higher), while only 27.4% of those negatively diagnosed with ASD had high Ados-2 scores (p < .001).
Study 2 collected data from 89 children (75% males with a mean age of 11.33±3.20 years), of which 37.1% were ultimately diagnosed with ASD (as determined by DSM-V criteria).
Results: The findings indicated that age of diagnosis marginally moderates the relationship between birth order and ASD diagnosis, such that as age of diagnosis progresses, first born are more likely than non-first born to be positively diagnosed with ASD (p = .058). Additionally, abnormal eye-contact only predicts ASD diagnosis in children younger than 11 years old (p = .02).
Combined, the two studies show specific familial, developmental, and diagnostic characteristics of children with late onset autism. These results require further investigation with larger samples, focusing on the clinical implications for families, child psychiatrists, and child psychologists.​​