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Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders

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Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Synonyms

DISCO

Description

The Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders (DISCO) (Leekam et al. 2002; Wing et al. 2002) is a semi-structured interview schedule used with the parent or carer of an individual to elicit a broad picture of the individual’s behaviors and needs. Its primary purpose is to elicit information relevant to the autistic spectrum in order to assist clinicians in their judgment of an individual’s level of development, disabilities, and specific needs. It contains sets of algorithms for diagnosis of autism according to the international classification criteria (ICD and DSM) and other sets of diagnostic criteria. Key features of the DISCO are (a) that it can be used for children and adults of any age, (b) that it collects extensive information not only on the core symptoms of autism but also beyond these symptoms (e.g., sensory symptoms, emotion symptoms, gross and fine motor skills, psychiatric and forensic problems, maladaptive behavior, sleep...

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Abbreviations

ADI-R:

Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised

PDD:

Pervasive developmental disorders

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

    Susan Leekam

Authors
  1. Susan Leekam
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Correspondence to Susan Leekam .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Child Study Center, New Haven, CT, USA

    Fred R. Volkmar

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Leekam, S. (2020). Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders. In: Volkmar, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_876-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_876-3

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