Autism Mental Status Examination (AMSE): A Valid Instrument in the Evaluation of Pre-school Children with Suspected Autism Spectrum Disorders?

The purpose of the study was the use of an adapted valid Childhood Autistic Rating Scale (CARS) to identify Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in school children for the purpose of placement and intervention in a special school that comprised categories of children with intellectual disabilities. Samples of 52 subjects randomly selected from the population of 138 were used to rate their behaviours using the CARS. Using nonexperimental research design of cross-categorical survey (descriptive research) was considered most suitable for the study. This is a survey that studies a group of sample in order to identify traits of such group. With the use of statistical data of chi-square, scores collected from the participants revealed that there was no significant difference in the scores or ratings. Also, the result obtained from the use of t-test indicated that the instrument significantly differentiate ASDs traits from Non-ASDs. The findings in this study prompted a suggestion that special schools, centres, homes etc should get this valid instrument handy for the purpose of identifying autistic traits in school children for correct placement and intervention.

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The method of joint drawing in the practice of teaching drawing to the elementary school children with autism spectrum disorders

Autism and Developmental Disorders ◽

10.17759/autdd.2015130206 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 48-52

Author(s):

O.A. Belyalova

Keyword(s):

Elementary School ◽

Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽

School Children ◽

Elementary School Children ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Speech Impairments ◽

Teacher Needs ◽

Spectrum Disorders ◽

Art Activities

While teaching children with autism spectrum disorders how to draw the teacher needs to focus on the fact that each child has creative potential and art activities play important part in the brain development. Often children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder have serious speech impairments, for example, they can talk to parents and family members, but not to classmates and teachers. In that case, one can communicate with a child through drawings, and to access their mood and desires through them. The article describes the method of joint drawing during teaching elementary school children with autism spectrum disorders from the school at the Center for Psychological, Medical and Social Support to Children and Adolescents.

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Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorders in Pre-school Children Using Two Standardised Assessment Instruments: The ADI-R and the ADOS

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders ◽

10.1007/s10803-007-0403-3 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 362-372 ◽

Cited By ~ 93

Author(s):

Ann Le Couteur ◽

Gyles Haden ◽

Donna Hammal ◽

Helen McConachie

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorders ◽

School Children ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Assessment Instruments ◽

Spectrum Disorders

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FC05-04 - The gamse (grodberg autism mental status examination). Preliminary development of a standardized autism-focused exam

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s0924-9338(11)73541-6 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 26 (S2) ◽

pp. 1837-1837

Author(s):

D. Grodberg ◽

P. Weinger ◽

A. Kolevzon ◽

L. Soorya ◽

J. Buxbaum

Keyword(s):

Mental Status ◽

Gold Standard ◽

Classification Accuracy ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Observational Assessment ◽

Roc Curve Analysis ◽

Rater Reliability ◽

Mental Status Examination ◽

Autism Mental Status Examination

BackgroundThe traditional mental status examination, used universally in psychiatry, does not provide flexibility to accommodate the developmental perspective necessary for the examination of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The Grodberg Autism Mental Status Examination (GAMSE), developed at the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, prompts the observation and recording of social, communicative and behavioral functioning in patients with ASD. The GAMSE contains 8 items, which produce a total score ranging from 0 to 16.Objectives1. To determine the validity of the GAMSE in accurately predicting diagnostic classification based on a gold standard observational assessment.2. To establish inter-rater reliability.MethodsEighty consecutive patients receiving autism diagnostic evaluations at the Seaver Autism Center were administered the GAMSE and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) as part of standard intake procedures. The classification accuracy of the GAMSE was assessed using the ADOS as the gold standard. Inter-rater reliability on the GAMSE was also examined (n = 44).ResultsA receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine a cut-off score based on the 8 items of the GAMSE. The most effective cut-off score of greater than or equal to 5 predicted outcome on the ADOS with a sensitivity of 0.94 and a specificity of 0.81. Co-rating of 44 participants on the AMSE resulted in an average measures intra-class correlation of 0.85.ConclusionsPreliminary results indicate excellent classification accuracy and suggest that the GAMSE may act as a useful standardized autism assessment tool for clinical and research endeavors.

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