Performance of the Autism Observation Scale for Infants with community-ascertained infants showing early signs of autism

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Hudry, K., Chetcuti, L., Boutrus, M., Pillar, S., Baker, E. K., Dimov, S., Barbaro, J., Green, J., Whitehouse, A., Varcin, K. J., & Team, a. t. A. (2020). Performance of the Autism Observation Scale for Infants with community-ascertained infants showing early signs of autism. Autism, 25(2), 490-501. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320965397

Publication date: 22 Oct 2020 Added to AutiHub: 7 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
11
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 11 (9.1%)
  1. Kristelle Hudry
  2. Lacey Chetcuti
  3. Maryam Boutrus
  4. Sarah Pillar
  1. Emma K Baker
  2. Stefanie Dimov
  3. Josephine Barbaro *
  4. Jonathan Green
  1. Andrew Whitehouse
  2. Kandice J Varcin
  3. and the AICES Team

Abstract

Often included within ‘high-risk sibling’ studies, the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) has only one independent replication study and no evaluation with community-ascertained cohorts. We administered the AOSI and established clinical measures with 103 infants (68% male) at ‘high autism likelihood’ on the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance - Revised (SACS-R) tool, at 9–14 months of age and again 6 months later. AOSI Total scores showed adequate internal consistency and strong inter-rater agreement (live- or video-coded) and were approximately normally distributed at each visit. Modest significant associations presented between Time 1 AOSI scores and concurrent developmental/adaptive skills measures. Concurrent associations were stronger at Time 2, particularly between AOSI Total and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Social Affect scores. AOSI scores were only moderately associated across Time 1 and 2 assessments, as were Time 1 AOSI with Time 2 ADOS scores. These data from a clinically indicated cohort broadly replicate previous AOSI validity accounts from ‘high-risk sibling’ studies, particularly beyond the first year. Strong inter-rater agreement indicates viable AOSI inclusion within protocols necessitating blinded evaluation (e.g. intervention trials). Moderate within-participant stability suggests that, like ‘high-risk siblings,’ community-ascertained infants experience variable early trajectories. Lay Abstract We investigated whether a commonly used research assessment – the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) – accurately measures autism behaviours among infants showing early signs of autism identified within the community. The AOSI is often included in studies tracking the development of infants at increased likelihood of autism, such as the infant siblings of diagnosed children. However, the suitability of this measure has not previously been tested with community-referred infants. We administered the AOSI with infants when aged 9 to 14 months and again 6 months later. Our researchers – independent of the AOSI development team and newly trained on this measure – were able to administer the brief interactive assessment and score it accurately. The infants’ AOSI scores were linked to their scores on other established and validated clinical assessments, particularly at the second visit when average age was 18 months. Stronger correspondence of AOSI and other scores at this second visit suggests early autism behaviours are better established and more consistent by 18 months of age, even though these infants showed clear enough signs of possible autism to prompt referral to our study around 12 months of age. However, the moderate association of AOSI scores over time suggests that, like infant siblings – who mostly do not develop autism – community-identified infants showing early signs may also have variable developmental pathways in early life.

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These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 12 Sep 2026 01:04.

Cited references
27
With a DOI
22
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
4
4 / 27 (14.8%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 27 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
27 / 27 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
4
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
148
From DOI or external metadata
148
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
65 / 148 (43.9%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 83 / 148 (56.1%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
4 / 148 (2.7%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 4 / 65 (6.2%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 1 / 114 (0.9%).
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