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Use of a Teacher Nomination Strategy to Screen for Autism Spectrum Disorders in General Education Classrooms: A Pilot Study

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Abstract

Given a rising prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), this project aimed to develop and pilot test various teacher nomination strategies to identify children at risk for ASD in a timely, reliable, cost-effective manner. Sixty participating elementary school teachers evaluated 1323 children in total. Each teacher nominated students who most fit a description of ASD-associated characteristics, and completed the Autism Syndrome Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ) on every child in the classroom. The proportion of overall agreement between teacher nomination and ASSQ was 93–95%, depending upon the nomination parameters. Nomination required 15 min per class versus 3.5–5.5 h per class for the ASSQ. These results support the need for further study of teacher nomination strategies to identify children at risk for ASD.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Colorado Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology (PI = Lisa Miller, Cordelia Robinson); Grant No. UI0/CCU820391. We thank Andria Ratchford and Katherine Baldwin, who assisted with initial study development; Lori Baker and Kit Hovey, who played vital roles in implementing the study; and Judy Reaven, who assisted with pilot testing. We gratefully acknowledge Ed Steinberg, Dixie Periman, David Livingston and the principals, teachers, and administrative staff of Cherry Creek School District who participated in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, USA

    Susan L. Hepburn, Carolyn DiGuiseppi, Steven Rosenberg, Kristina Kaparich & Cordelia Robinson

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences, 4200 E. 9th Avenue, C-268-30, Denver, CO, 80220, USA

    Susan L. Hepburn

  3. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver, CO, USA

    Lisa Miller

Authors
  1. Susan L. Hepburn
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  2. Carolyn DiGuiseppi
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  3. Steven Rosenberg
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  4. Kristina Kaparich
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  5. Cordelia Robinson
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  6. Lisa Miller
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Correspondence to Susan L. Hepburn.

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Hepburn, S.L., DiGuiseppi, C., Rosenberg, S. et al. Use of a Teacher Nomination Strategy to Screen for Autism Spectrum Disorders in General Education Classrooms: A Pilot Study. J Autism Dev Disord 38, 373–382 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0404-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-007-0404-2

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