Protocol for early assessment and intervention of autism risk signs: comparing high and low risk groups

Abstract

Early diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the population allows interventions
with better prognosis and lower cost of treatment. Studies indicate that there is a higher
prevalence of ASD in siblings of diagnosed individuals, considered as risk groups. Gioia and
Guilhardi (2018) developed as assessment protocol for the early signs in children with easy
application by parents and/or caregivers. This study aimed to evaluate whether the tasks of this
protocol applied in the period from 2013 to 2019 in children aged 13 to 22 months produced
differentiating results between the high (HR) and low autistic risk (LR) groups and also verify
the correspondence between the assessment obtained in the protocol by the HR participants
with the results obtained in the Childhood Autism Rating Scale – CARS. The results showed
that six of the thirteen tasks of the Protocol allowed the differentiation between the HR and LR
groups, demonstrating that the instrument can be effective in the early identification of children
who may later be diagnosed with ASD.