Developing Autism Screening Criteria for the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA)

There is a critical need for valid and reliable research-based developmental and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) specific screening measures designed for use in young children. These tools are used in pediatric and educational settings to ensure that children at risk for developing socioemotional disorders and/or an ASD are provided with the early intensive services needed to optimize long-term outcomes. The Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) is a short screening tool that helps to identify young children between the ages of 12 and 36 months who may have socioemotional and behavioral problems and/or delays, or deficits in social-emotional competence. Among the 42 items on the BITSEA, there are 17 items that the authors have identified as consistent with behaviors seen in ASD. The current project proposes to develop cut point scores for the ASD subscales of the BITSEA using Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) plots through secondary data analysis of a sample of young children with and without ASD. The findings of the current study will contribute to overarching goal of increased early detection and diagnosis of ASD