Scale for the assessment of infant developmental competencies: A new instrument for early screening in Autism Spectrum Disorders

F. Apicella, S. Maestro, A. Cesari, C. Grassi, A. Manfredi, P. Muratori, A. Petrozzi, L. Polidori and F.Muratori

IRCCS “Stella Maris” – Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Background: Despite the overwhelming evidence of a precocious neurodevelopmental substrate, clinical onset of autism remains an unresolved question. Home Movies (HM), made by parents before child’s Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is diagnosed, represent an excellent option for providing direct observation of the earliest stages of development and the only instrument to study and understand the actual course of onset in infants with autism. Our hypothesis is that an impairment of social competencies represents one of the earliest risk indicators of ASD, as well as the central component of further social deficit.

Aim of the study: To introduce an instrument for early detection of social competencies in the first 18 months of life of a child.

Methodology: To this aim we have implemented a behavioral scale (IBS - Infant Behavioral Scale) in order to codify early social behaviors of infants aged 0-18 months. The scale is composed of 29 items describing the behavioral components of interactions between the infant and his/her care-givers. The items have been divided in 4 sub-scales:

  1. Grid for basic behaviors (look at, orienting towards, seeking contact, etc.).
  2. Grid for complex behaviors (enjoying with, social engagement, pointing, etc.).
  3. Grid for vocalizations (simple and meaningful vocalization).
  4. Grid for care-giver’s behaviors (soliciting by, regulation).

The items have been selected on the basis of previous studies and of the expected social competencies for the age.

The composition, the structure of the scale will be discussed through the use of The Observer® 4.0 (Noldus Information Technology bv, The Netherlands) and through the application on two sequences of interaction between child and his/her care-givers. For each sequence the items rated and the links among the 4 sub-scales will be graphically shown.

Paper presented at Measuring Behavior 2005 , 5th International Conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioral Research, 30 August - 2 September 2005, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

© 2005 Noldus Information Technology bv