Early markers of autism spectrum disorders in infants and toddlers prospectively identified in the Social Attention and Communication Study

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Barbaro, J. & Dissanayake, C. (2012). Early markers of autism spectrum disorders in infants and toddlers prospectively identified in the Social Attention and Communication Study. Autism, 17(1), 64-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361312442597

Publication date: 26 Jun 2012 Added to AutiHub: 7 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)
  1. Josephine Barbaro *
  2. Cheryl Dissanayake

Abstract

The Social Attention and Communication Study involved the successful implementation of developmental surveillance of the early markers of autism spectrum disorders in a community-based setting. The objective in the current study was to determine the most discriminating and predictive markers of autism spectrum disorders used in the Social Attention and Communication Study at 12, 18 and 24 months of age, so that these could be used to identify children with autism spectrum disorders with greater accuracy. The percentage of ‘yes/no’ responses for each behavioural marker was compared between children with autistic disorder (n = 39), autism spectrum disorder (n = 50) and developmental and/or language delay (n = 20) from 12 to 24 months, with a logistic regression also conducted at 24 months. Across all ages, the recurring key markers of both autistic disorder and autism spectrum disorder were deficits in eye contact and pointing, and from 18 months, deficits in showing became an important marker. In combination, these behaviours, along with pretend play, were found to be the best group of predictors for a best estimate diagnostic classification of autistic disorder/autism spectrum disorder at 24 months. It is argued that the identified markers should be monitored repeatedly during the second year of life by community health-care professionals.

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Cited bibliography overview

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
50
With a DOI
45
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
4
4 / 50 (8.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
2 / 50 (4.0%)
References with detected author names
48 / 50 (96.0%)
Without detected author names
2
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
4
References with raw author names still to review
1
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
199
From DOI or external metadata
199
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
54 / 199 (27.1%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 145 / 199 (72.9%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
4 / 199 (2.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 4 / 54 (7.4%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 1 / 144 (0.7%).
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