A Roundup of FREE Autism Screeners for children (in colloboration with @mrsspeechiep)

I was so excited when @mrsspeechiep reached out after I made the autism screeners post for adults to see about collaborating on a post for children (If you’re looking for more resources for children, I highly recommend checking out her Instagram page and website).

So here is a round-up of FREE online autism screeners for toddlers and children. First, a disclaimer about screeners (what they are and how to use them): Screeners can be super helpful for parents and professionals to know when an Autism assessment may be indicated. They can help confirm gut feelings and observed characteristics. However, screeners can also be less helpful at times. Screeners are NOT diagnostic in and of themselves, and many screeners may miss less stereotypical Autism presentations. Other limitations of screeners include misunderstanding of questions presented and reporter bias (i.e. a person who feels strongly it either IS or is NOT Autism can fill out to provide the desired result). Our best advice: get a full evaluation with a trained professional if you or anyone thinks one is needed - this includes when multiple people also tell you it’s not needed.

Okay, a rundown of the screeners:

Autism Screeners for Toddlers:

The Infant-Toddler Checklist (Intended for caregivers of children aged 6-24 months). Some of the strengths of this screener include—that it can be used with younger children and it breaks down the scores in an easily digestible format. Some of the cons—it will miss some kiddos and is not necessarily autism-specific.

Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT) (Intended to measure autistic traits in children aged 18-24 months): Some of the strengths of this assessment include: it helps parents know what to look for and what behaviors/tendencies to be monitoring for. Some of the cons include: no cut-off score and the wording includes many stereotypes.

Autism Screeners for Children:

Childhood Spectrum Test (CAST): (Formerly known as the "Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test". Parent Questionnaire for children ages 5-11): Some of the pros is that it has a variety of questions. Some of it’s limits is that it is structured in a binary yes/no format and it may miss more social/high masking children.

Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire (ASSQ): This screening is known for its properties in capturing the broader range of autistic traits in children aged 7-16. The major strength of this screener is that it may catch kids were previously missed or misdiagnosed. Some of the downsides—it includes a fair amount of jargon and ableist language.

The ASD Assessment Scale/Screening Questionnaire: This is an experimental screening tool based on the current DSM-5 criteria for autism. The breakdown of this screener is well designed, as it asks questions for many different domains, and there is the ability to mark areas of historic difficulty which adds more nuance in the reporting. The cons, this screener also uses ableist language and includes many stereotypes.