Abstract:
The main purpose of the present study was to establish the validity of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT). Eighty children representing four different groups, namely; normal development, Down syndrome, children with suspicion of autism, and children with a diagnosis of autism, were evaluated by the M-CHAT, the CHAT, the DSM-IV Autistic Disorder Criteria and the AGTE. One major finding of the study was that the M-CHAT discriminated children with autistic signs from those with no autistic signs. It successfully detected children with suspicion of autism and those with a diagnosis of autism. However, it's rate of misclassifying nonautistic children as autistic was found to be quite high. One of the two criteria of the M-CHAT (any three of the 23 items) increased the rate of these misclassifications. The other criterion (six critical items) was a better discriminator between the autistic and nonautistic children. In addition to these six critical items, item 6 (imperative pointing) was found to increase the sensitivity of the M-CHAT. In light of these findings, recommendations were made for effective screening of young children.
