There are limited clinical tools to measure early features of autism in very young children (under 12 months). A research tool, the Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI), developed by Dr. Zwaigenbaum and colleagues, was developed to measure features of autism in babies as young as six months of age and has been shown to be reliable and valid in research exploring the development of infant siblings of autistic children. 

The AOSI has been used by over 20 groups internationally and has been translated into multiple languages including French, Spanish, Hebrew and Swedish. Our group has been frequently asked whether the AOSI can be used clinically to identify early features of autism to inform decisions about services and to anticipate diagnosis (i.e., guide surveillance).  To date, we have needed to reply that "we do not yet have the data to support potential clinical applications of the AOSI," and thus have restricted our training and dissemination efforts to supporting research.  

As such, this study was designed to fill this gap in knowledge. Specifically, we hope to assess the acceptability of an assessment protocol that includes the AOSI to evaluate early signs of autism in children who were referred to the study by their medical professional or who self-referred based on parent concern. 

We will assess the children using the AOSI from ages 9 months to 18 months and they will be invited back for an assessment for autism. The goal is to measure the ability of the AOSI to predict three year diagnostic outcomes in a group of community-referred babies.