An evaluation of early development in children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders from home movies: Preliminary findings

Abstract

Family videos of 10 children later diagnosed as having autism or pervasive developmental disorders were analysed using a newly devised instrument. The checklist comprises 30 individual items and 20 functional categories. It evaluates behaviours in three areas: social interaction, communication and language, functional and symbolic play. The age range covered by home movies was divided into four periods (0-6, 6-12, 12-18 and 18-24 months) and analysed accordingly. The checklist data allow for the derivation of a general developmental profile as well as individual profiles. The most common profile was one in which children made progress from the first to the second or third age period, whereas from the second or third to the fourth period they showed a loss of previously mastered behaviours. The loss was statistically significant in socio-interactive behaviours, less evident in communication/language, and moderate in the area of action schemes and play. Mutual attention (dyadic eye contact), attachment behaviours, emotional reactions and vocalizations were present in almost all the children studied. On the other hand, communicative gestures (pointing, showing, ritualized requests), pretend play and conventional social games were rarely observed. The implications of these results for early diagnosis as well as for theories of early development in autism and severe developmental disorders are briefly discussed.