Early Assessment of Mental Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other Neurodevelopmental Disorders - Sharing of Clinical Experience

The authors present a synthesised review of the methods for assessing mental development and autism, with an emphasis on the general tendency to reduce the age of diagnosis. Based on clinical experience, a number of particularities are described in terms of: testing, working with parents, observing and reflecting on the nature and meaning of autistic behaviours. On focus is a toolkit for detailed assessment of mental development that was elaborated within the inter-university cooperation between Sofia Medical University and Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - Belgium. Illustrated and discussed are typical profiles of cognitive and socio-communicative functioning of children with ASD and other neurodevelopmental disorders, which help a differential diagnosis to be made by the multidisciplinary clinical team. Further described are the advantages of early assessment of mental development as a basis for future educational and therapeutic programs