Description

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Does gold standard diagnostic research tool of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children (ADI-R) has scores that correlates with specific eating problems found in this cohort.

METHODOLOGY: SPSS-20 statistical tool was applied   to see, if severity and incidences of four types of eating difficulties met in our ASD cohort statistically related with ASD diagnostic scores above threshold level for this pathology using ADI-R (Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised). Analyzed data from the  research of 40 children with established ASD diagnosis using ADI-R showed,if any of these scores have any predictability of eating problems, also seen in this group of children with special needs.

RESULTS: No statistical significance was found between four types of eating difficulties seen in this cohort with the ADI-R scores above threshold values in its three domains tested.

CONCLUSION: Professionals  can safely counsel parents that their ADI-R scores are no indication of the severity of their childs eating problems.

KEYWORDS: Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Autism Diagnostic Interview- Revised, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Eating disorder, Eating difficulty