A Review of Developmental Scales in Pediatric Practice: Recent Guidelines.

Imitation, fine motor abilities, eye-to-hand coordination, perception, gross motor abilities, mental abilities, and verbal cognitive abilities are assessed on the developmental scale. The behavioral scale also assesses social interaction, emotional expression, activity, curiosity, sensory reactivity, and language. The current developmental scales in pediatrics are discussed in this paper. These scales have evolved. International scales for Indian children are difficult to administer due to cultural differences in self-care and gender roles. If parental awareness and demand are raised, postnatal growth interventions for psychosocial development will benefit infants in developing nations. Routine screening involves identifying an appropriate opportunity, acquisition, tool selection, administration, interpreting data, scoring, counseling, and training.

"Everyone screens to some extent": Barriers and facilitators of developmental screening among children with sickle cell disease: A mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Developmental delays are common among children with sickle cell disease (SCD). Existing guidelines support consistent screening to increase the identification of deficits and support referral to rehabilitative interventions, yet adherence remains variable. This study sought to assess current practices and identify barriers and facilitators to improve developmental screening for children 0-3 years with SCD. PROCEDURE: A mixed methods approach, guided by the Exploration and Preparation stages of the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) framework, assessed developmental screening practices among primary care providers and hematologists. Phase 1 included the SCD Developmental Surveillance and Screening Guideline and Practice Survey. Phase 2 included the SCD Developmental Screening Organizational Survey alongside semi-structured interviews. Descriptive and qualitative methods summarized the findings. RESULTS: Thirty-three providers from general pediatrics and hematology completed phase 1. Use of standardized developmental screening measures was variable, with the most frequently used being the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (77%) and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (55%). Fifteen providers participated in phase 2, and reported they were most likely to engage in changes to improve their practice (mean = 4.4/5) and least likely to support spiritual health and well-being (mean = 3.5/5). Three themes emerged:(i) developmental screening is not standardized or specific to SCD, (ii) children with SCD benefit from a multidisciplinary team, and (iii) healthcare system limitations are a barrier. CONCLUSIONS: Developmental screening is inconsistent and insufficient for young children with SCD. Providers are interested in supporting children with SCD, but report a lack of standardized measures and consistent guidance as barriers.

Field validation of an app based developmental and speech language screening (SRESHT screener) conducted by grass root workers.

This study validated an app-based developmental and speech language screening (SRESHT screener) conducted by Grass Roots Workers (GRWs) among children below six years of age in a rural community in the state of Tamil Nadu (the field). Method: The study was carried out in two phases, first the training of GRWs and then the validation of the screening conducted by them using the app. For the training, suitable materials were developed, and the GRW's knowledge and skills were evaluated pre- and post-training. Two closed-ended questionnaires were used to evaluate the GRWs' knowledge about the screening tools. The Observed Structured Practical Examination (OSPE) method was used to evaluate their skill. All the participants were selected by convenience sampling and were screened independently by both a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) and a GRW using the application. Cohen's kappa and percent agreement were used to determine agreement in screening results between the SLP and GRWs. Results: All the GRWs scored at least 75 % and above in both the knowledge and skill assessments conducted post-training. "Substantial agreement" on kappa-based extent of agreement and "almost perfect" agreement on percent agreement were obtained between GRWs and SLP for the app-based screening. Conclusion: The findings of this study imply that the app-based developmental and speech language screening performed in the community by GRWs is valid.

Place-Based Child Opportunity at Birth and Child Development from Infancy to Age 4.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the children's neighborhood quality, as a measure of place-based social determinants of health, is associated with the odds of developmental delay and developmental performance up to the age of 4 years. STUDY DESIGN: Mothers of 5702 children from the Upstate KIDS Study, a longitudinal population-based cohort of children born from 2008 through 2010, provided questionnaire data and a subset of 573 children participated in a clinic visit. The Child Opportunity Index 2.0 was linked to home census tract at birth. Probable developmental delays were assessed by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire up to 7 times between 4 and 36 months, and developmental performance was assessed via the Battelle Developmental Inventory at the age of 4 years. RESULTS: In unadjusted models, higher neighborhood opportunity was protective against developmental delays and was associated with slightly higher development scores at age 4. After adjusting for family-level confounding variables, 10-point higher Child Opportunity Index (on a 100-point scale) remained associated with a lower odds of any developmental delay (OR = .966, 95% CI = .940-.992), and specifically delays in the personal-social domain (OR = .921, 95% CI = .886-.958), as well as better development performance in motor (B = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.11-1.48), personal-social (B = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.003-1.28), and adaptive (B = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.04-1.34) domains at age 4. CONCLUSIONS: Community-level opportunities are associated with some aspects of child development prior to school entry. Pediatric providers may find it helpful to use neighborhood quality as an indicator to inform targeted developmental screening.

Concurrent validity of the ages and stages questionnaires with Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III at 2 years - Singapore cohort study.

BACKGROUND: With increasing acceptance of universal developmental screening in primary care, it is essential to evaluate the local validity and psychometric properties of commonly used questionnaires like the parent-completed Ages and Stages Questionnaires, 3rd Edition (ASQ-3) in identifying developmental delays. The aim of this study is to assess the convergent validity of the ASQ-3 with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-3rd edition (Bayley-III) in identifying developmental delay in a low-risk term cohort in Singapore. METHODS: ASQ-3 and Bayley-III data was collected prospectively with generation of ASQ-3 cut-off scores using three different criteria: 1-standard deviation (SD) (Criterion-I) or 2-SD (Criterion-II) below the mean, and using a Receiver Operator Curve (ROC) (Criterion-III). Sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive values were calculated. Correlations between the ASQ-3 and Bayley-III domains were evaluated using Pearson coefficients. RESULTS: With all three criteria across different domains ASQ-3 showed high specificity (72-99%) and NPV (69-98%), but lower sensitivity (19-74%) and PPV (11-59%). Criterion-I identified 11-21% of children as "at-risk of developmental delay," and was the most promising criterion measure, with high specificity (82-91%), NPV (69-74%) and overall agreement of 64-71%. Moderate-strong correlations were seen between ASQ-3 Communication and Bayley-III Language scales (r = 0.44-0.59, p < 0.01). The lowest sensitivities were seen in the motor domains. CONCLUSIONS: ASQ-3 is reliable in low-risk settings in identifying typically developing children not at risk of developmental delay, but it has modest sensitivity. Moderate-strong correlations seen in the communication domain are clinically important for early identification of language delay, which is one of the most prevalent areas of early childhood developmental delay.

'All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children should have access to the ASQ-TRAK': Shared vision of an implementation support model for the ASQ-TRAK developmental screener.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: The ASQ-TRAK, a strengths-based approach to developmental screening, has high acceptability and utility across varied Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts. While substantive knowledge translation has seen many services utilise ASQ-TRAK, we now need to move beyond distribution and support evidence-based scale-up to ensure access. Through a co-design approach, we aimed to (1) understand community partners' perspectives of barriers and enablers to ASQ-TRAK implementation and (2) develop an ASQ-TRAK implementation support model to inform scale-up. METHODS: The co-design process had four phases: (i) partnership development with five community partners (two Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations); (ii) workshop planning and recruitment; (iii) co-design workshops; and (iv) analysis, draft model and feedback workshops. RESULTS: Seven co-design meetings and two feedback workshops with 41 stakeholders (17 were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander), identified seven key barriers and enablers, and a shared vision - all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families have access to the ASQ-TRAK. Implementation support model components agreed on were: (i) ASQ-TRAK training, (ii) ASQ-TRAK support, (iii) local implementation support, (iv) engagement and communications, (v) continuous quality improvement and (vi) coordination and partnerships. CONCLUSIONS: This implementation support model can inform ongoing processes necessary for sustainable ASQ-TRAK implementation nationally. This will transform the way services provide developmental care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, ensuring access to high quality, culturally safe developmental care. SO WHAT?: Well-implemented developmental screening leads to more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children receiving timely early childhood intervention services, improving developmental trajectories and optimising long-term health and wellbeing.

Construction and validation of ShaMaq developmental screening tool.

INTRODUCTION: The diagnosis of developmental delay and early intervention ameliorates long-term sequelae. There is a need for an appropriate, regionally adapted and reliable developmental screening tool to be used in low and middle-income countries with scarce resources. AIM: The aim of this research is to construct and validate a screening tool for identifying developmental delay in Pakistani children. METHOD: ShaMaq developmental screening tool (SDST) was developed consisting of five proformas to be administered at different age groups: 6-8 weeks (Group 1), 6-10 months (Group 2), 18-24 months (Group 3), 3-3.5 years (Group 4), and 4.5-5.5 years (Group 5). On an average, Groups 1-3 took 10-15 min, whereas Groups 4 and 5 took 20-25 min. We sampled children between the ages of 6 weeks to 5.5 years and tested them all within their designated age groups. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha. Interobserver testing was done for reliability and concurrent validity was undertaken by using the senior consultant developmental paediatrician's final diagnosis as the gold standard. RESULTS: Out of 550 healthy children, 8-19% in the five groups were found to have some form of developmental delay using SDST. Approximately 50% of the families were in the low-to-moderate income bracket, and nearly 93% lived in a joint family system. Internal consistency of items in the five groups ranged from 0.784 to 0.940, whereas both interobserver reliability and concurrent validity ranged from 0.737 to 1.0. SDST showed 94.4% sensitivity and 92.9% specificity. CONCLUSION: SDST is an effective tool for identifying delay in healthy children with good internal consistency, reliability, and validity.

Screening for developmental delay in urban Rwandan children: a cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Systematic or targeted screening for developmental delay (DD) is critical to the early identification of developmental disabilities. With limited available information for urban Rwandan children, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of DD and associated risk factors in infants aged 9 to 16 months living in the urban Rwandan city of Kigali. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Rwanda from August to November 2019. A convenience sample of 376 Rwandan parents/caregivers and their children attending urban health centers for their routine immunization visits at 9 and 15 months of age was studied. Parents/caregivers completed the official Kinyarwandan version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) and established cutoffs were used to identify DD. Frequency and percentages were used to summarise the data. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with DD. RESULTS: Of the 358 children screened using the ASQ-3, the overall prevalence of DD was 24.6%, with a 27.2% prevalence among 9-10-month old children and 22.4% prevalence among 15-16-month old children. Delays in the combined group among the domains of gross motor, communication, fine motor, personal social, and problem solving were 12.8%, 2.5%, 8.4%, 1.7% and 7.5%, respectively. Gestational age at delivery and district of origin were most highly associated with DD, with preterm children at significantly higher risk of having DD compared to term children (Adjusted Odd Ratio AOR = 8.3; 95% CI = 2.5-27.4) and children from Nyarugenge District at high risk of DD compared to children from Gasabo district (AOR = 2.15; 95% CI = 1.2-3.9). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of ASQ-detectable DD among urban Rwandan children between 9 and 16 months of age was 24.6%, with a high correlation to a history of prematurity and district of origin. This study demonstrates the need for thoughtful health planning regarding integrated developmental surveillance for children, particularly those at high risk, to allow for earlier identification and intervention in the urban area of Kigali, Rwanda.

The development and productivity of a measure for identifying low language abilities in children aged 24-36 months.

BACKGROUND: Accurate early identification of children with low language ability is important but existing measures generally have low sensitivity. This remains an area of concern for preventive and public health services. This study aimed to create and evaluate a measure of child language, communication and related risks which can be used by community health nurses to accurately identify children with low language aged 24-30 months. METHODS: The Early Language Identification Measure (ELIM) was developed and comprised five measurement sections, each measuring different aspects of development combined into a single measure. This was tested blind against a reference standard language measure, the Preschool Language Scale-5 (PLS-5), at the universal 24-30-month health visitor review in England. The threshold for likely low language was the tenth centile or below on the PLS-5. The aim was to ascertain the performance of the five individual sections in the scale, and consider the optimum combination of sections, for predicting low language ability. Specificity, sensitivity, and positive and negative predictive values were reported for each of the five sections of the ELIM alone and in conjunction with each other. The performance for children from monolingual English-speaking families and those who spoke languages other than English were also considered separately. RESULTS: Three hundred and seventy-six children were assessed on both the ELIM identification measure and the PLS-5 with 362 providing complete data. While each section of the ELIM predicted low language ability, the optimal combination for predicting language outcome was the parent reported vocabulary checklist coupled with the practitioner observation of the child's communication and related behaviours. This gave a sensitivity of 0·98 with a specificity of 0·63. CONCLUSIONS: A novel measure has been developed which accurately identifies children at risk of low language, allowing clinicians to target resources efficiently and intervene early.

Medical Home, Developmental Monitoring/Screening, and Early Autism Identification.

Developmental monitoring/screening predict early identified autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but studies have not yet robustly controlled for a key health care service impacting early identification: medical home. National Surveys of Children's Health (NSCH; 2016-2020) were used to determine the relationship between medical home, developmental monitoring/screening, and identified ASD. NSCH overall medical home variable had a minimal relationship with ASD (under 5 years of age, under 5 identified in last year, under 5 identified over a year prior). Usual source of care was positively, and care coordination negatively, associated with ASD identified in last year, suggesting the overall medical home variable may mask variance from subscales. Research is needed to determine how medical home relates to identification in applied settings.

Implementation of Two Developmental Screening Programs in Sickle Cell Disease Specialty Care.

Objective: Developmental screening is a critical component of care for children with sickle cell disease (SCD), who are at elevated risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. This report describes the implementation of two related developmental screening programs implemented in different SCD specialty care settings with the purpose of describing screening protocols, outcomes, and lessons learned. Methods: Program One reviewed medical records for 201 children with SCD screened at ages 2 and 4 years. Program Two reviewed program tracking and visit notes for 155 screenings across 67 children screened between 9 and 66 months of age. Key outcomes included characteristics of children screened, screening results, concordance between parent concerns and screening outcomes, and access to evaluation and intervention services. Results: Each program identified a substantial number of children with developmental concerns, including 42% of screenings in Program One and 36% of unique children screened in Program Two. Program One resulted in 56% of identified children receiving follow-up developmental services and 62% receiving developmental monitoring. Program Two resulted in 58% of identified children receiving further evaluation following developmental screening, with 67-75% of children with neurodevelopmental diagnoses receiving intervention services following evaluation. While parent concerns were related to screening outcomes, screening instruments detected many children whose parents did not express developmental concerns. Conclusions: Routine developmental screening is a feasible, acceptable, and effective method for identifying concerns in children with SCD in specialty care. Flexible and collaborative care and sustainability are key considerations for effective programming, with pediatric psychologists uniquely positioned to provide optimal integrated care.

Routine developmental screening in Australian general practice: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status, (PEDS), is a validated screening tool designed for primary health care clinicians to assess child development. Despite widespread use by local government child-nurse services, PEDS has not been tested in Australian general practice. We examined the effect of an intervention that aimed to use PEDS to improve documented assessment of child developmental status during routine general practice consultations. METHODS: The study took place in a single general practice in Melbourne, Australia. The intervention included training of all general practice staff regarding PEDS processes and provision of PEDS questionnaires, scoring and interpretation forms. Mixed methods incorporated audits of clinical records of young children (1 to ≤ 5 years) before and after the intervention, and written questionnaires and a focus group (informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework and COM-B model) with receptionists, practice nurses and general practitioners. RESULTS: Documented developmental status more than doubled after the intervention with almost one in three (30.4%) records documenting the PEDS tool. Overall, staff responses to questionnaires indicated that PEDS processes had been successfully implemented, half of the staff felt PEDS had developed their professional skills and clinicians expressed confidence using the tool (71%). Thematic analysis of the focus group transcript revealed divided reactions to PEDS screening with most barriers arising from general practitioners' motivation to use PEDS tools and perceptions of environmental constraints. CONCLUSIONS: A team-practice intervention that applied PEDS training and implementation, more than doubled documented rates of child developmental status during routine visits. Solutions to underlying barriers could be incorporated into a revised training module. Future studies need to test the tool in more methodologically robust studies that include analysis of the outcomes of developmental surveillance and long-term sustainability of PEDS use in practices.

Delay from Screening to Diagnosis in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Results from a Large National Health Research Network.

To examine delay from developmental screening to autism diagnosis, we used real-world health care data from a national research network to estimate the time between these events. We found an average delay of longer than 2 years from first screening to diagnosis, with no significant differences observed by sex, race, or ethnicity.

Cohort Profile: evaluation of the targeted individual promotion in german preschools using the revised Dortmund Developmental Screening for Preschools DESK 3-6 R (project "GIF MV").

This dynamic cohort was established to evaluate the targeted individual promotion of children affected by developmental risks as part of the German federal state law for child day-care and preschools in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The project has been conducted in preschools in regions with a low socio-economic profile since 2011. Since 2017, the revision of the standardized Dortmund Developmental Screening for Preschools (DESK 3-6 R) has been applied. Developmental risks of 3 to 6-year-old children in the domains of motor, linguistic, cognitive and social competencies are monitored. The cohort is followed up annually. In 2020, n = 7,678 children from n = 152 preschools participated. At the baseline (2017), n = 8,439 children participated. Due to the defined age range of this screening, 3,000 to 4,000 5-6-year-old children leave the cohort annually. Simultaneously, an approximately equal number of 3-year-old children enters the cohort per survey wave. N = 702 children participated in all 4 survey waves. On the basis of DESK 3-6 R scores available from survey waves 2017 to 2019 it is possible to compute expected values for the survey wave 2020 and to compare those with the measured values to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e. parental home care due to restrictions related to COVID-19).

A survey study on early detection of young children with disabilities in urban and rural areas of China.

AIM: This study aimed to understand how children and families access early intervention in China. BACKGROUND: Timely identification and high-quality intervention is expected to prevent and reduce the occurrence and severity of chronic functional impairment for children with disability and is of great significance to individuals and the society. The current study recruited 1129 caregivers of children with disabilities from rural and urban areas of China were recruited to participate in a survey. RESULTS: (a) The first concern about development was raised, usually by the parents, when a child with disabilities was 26 months of age, (b) developmental screening took place 4 months after the first concern and diagnostic evaluation happened 7 months after, (c) the types of early intervention programme varied across urban and rural areas and (d) child and family factors were found associating with age of detection. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the concerningly late age of children being identified for early intervention and disparities in services between urban and rural areas in China. Implications are provided for practitioners, policy makers and future research.

Survey of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Parents' Experiences Accessing Health Care for their Children With Developmental Disabilities.

INTRODUCTION: This study explored the impact of health care (HC) bias and discrimination on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) parents and their children with developmental disabilities. METHOD: We conducted a national online survey of LGBTQ parents of children with developmental disabilities using social media and professional networks. Descriptive statistics were compiled. Open-ended responses were coded using inductive and deductive approaches. RESULTS: Thirty-seven parents completed the survey. Most participants identified as highly educated, White, lesbian or queer, cisgender women and reported positive experiences. Some reported bias and discrimination, including heterosexist forms, LGBTQ disclosure challenges, and, because of their LGBTQ identity, feeling mistreated by their children's providers or being refused needed HC for their child. DISCUSSION: This study advances knowledge around LGBTQ parents' experiences of bias and discrimination while accessing children's HC. Findings highlight the need for additional research, policy change, and workforce development to improve HC for LGBTQ families.

REACh for the preschoolers; a developmental assessment tool for 2-5 year old children in Sri Lanka.

BACKGROUND: Preschool children in low resource settings are at higher risk of missing developmental potential due to the lack of standardized and validated methods for the timely detection of children with developmental delays or neurodevelopmental disorders. The preschool teacher is a non-specialist resourceful link within the community to detect and offer interventions early. This paper discusses the preliminary iteration of designing and testing the psychometric properties of a developmental assessment for children aged 24 to 60 months in Sri Lanka. This assessment is designed to be conducted by preschool teachers in their preschool setting. METHODS: Three processes followed: 1. Designing and development of the Ragama Early Assessment for Children (REACh) complete preschool developmental assessment and a tool kit 2. Testing and training teachers on conducting the REACh assessment 3. Preliminary assessment of the psychometric properties including content validity, internal consistency, interrater reliability and concurrent validity. RESULTS: A literature search identified 11 assessments and 542 items representing cognitive, social-emotional and adaptive, language and motor domains. Content validity was assessed to select and adapt items. A complete assessment tool was designed to be administered in four settings within the preschool. This was further improved during pre and pilot testing and teacher training. Cronbach's alpha measuring internal consistency was > 0.70 for cognitive, language, social-emotional and adaptive domains across all three age groups in 1809 children. Interrater reliability was > 65% for age groups 36-47 and 47- 60 months. Concurrent validity using a clinical gold standard demonstrated sensitivity of more than 0.75 for all age groups with variable specificities (24-35 months: 0.71, 36- 47 months: 0.43 and 48-60 months: 0.67) assessed in 75 children. CONCLUSIONS: This culturally and linguistically adapted tool was tested nationally in Sri Lanka. The inte-rrater reliability between teachers and research assistants was higher than 65% for all domains in children more than 36 months. The preliminary iteration confirms it as an acceptable screening assessment for all age groups but with significantly lower specificity in the 36-47 month age group. Further improvement in certain domains together with intense teacher training is likely to enhance the validity and reliability of the assessment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Ethics clearance for the procedure was granted prospectively from the Ethics Review Committee, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya (ERC no. P 131/06/2018).

Neurodevelopmental Assessment in Children With Congenital Heart Disease by Applying the Denver Developmental Screening Test 2: A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study.

Background Congenital heart conditions often cause developmental delays and impact neurodevelopment throughout one's lifetime. Hence, it is crucial to analyze the impact that heart defects have on the developing brain of a child. The present cross-sectional study was undertaken given the paucity of studies on the developmental status in children with congenital heart diseases (CHDs) in central India, where we tried to evaluate and compare the prevalence of neurodevelopmental delay in individuals with different congenital cardiac disorders. The objectives of our study were, firstly, to utilize the Denver Developmental Screening Test 2 (DDST-2) to evaluate the neurodevelopmental conditions in children with CHD; secondly, to compare the neurodevelopmental state of children with acyanotic CHD (ACHD) and cyanotic CHD (CCHD); and thirdly, to ascertain the prevalence of developmental delay in children with CHD. Methodology The study population comprised children aged six months to six years with two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography confirmation of CHD; those who were critically ill, had genetic syndromes, and were not willing to participate in the study were excluded. The neurodevelopmental assessment was conducted using the DDST-2. The screening looked at each patient's progress in four areas: personal-social, fine motor-adaptive, language, and gross motor. Based on these observations, results were obtained and interpreted. Result Out of 82 children with CHD, the prevalence rate of developmental delay according to the DDST-2 was found to be maximum in the gross motor domain and the least affected in the social domain, which was similar to the analysis of developmental delay by developmental quotient (DQ). The comparative analysis of developmental delay in ACHD and CCHD according to the DDST-2 showed a significant P value only in the gross motor domain. Conclusion The DDST-2 is a straightforward screening tool for determining how well-developed infants with CHD are. The gross motor domain is the most frequently damaged in ACHD and CCHD, followed by the fine motor domain, and the social domain is the least affected. Cyanotic CHD patients are more susceptible to developmental delay than children with ACHD.

Uptake of the culturally appropriate ASQ-TRAK developmental screening tool in the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander context.

BACKGROUND: Recently in Australia, access to culturally safe developmental practices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families has been enhanced by the availability of a culturally appropriate developmental screening tool, the Ages and Stages Questionnaire - Talking about Raising Aboriginal Kids (ASQ-TRAK). This paper aims (i) to describe the uptake of the ASQ-TRAK developmental screening tool in Aboriginal Community Controlled Organizations and mainstream services in Australia and (ii) to explore the extent to which organizations using the ASQ-TRAK have engaged training for staff. METHODS: A retrospective review of ASQ-TRAK sales and training records from January 2015 to May 2020 to determine the ASQ-TRAK distribution by jurisdiction and service type and the number of services that have engaged training. RESULTS: Five hundred ASQ-TRAK kits have been distributed across 77 agencies. Of those, 100 kits (20%) have been purchased by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organizations. Most have been distributed in the Northern Territory (NT) (178, 36%), Western Australia (165, 33%) and South Australia (64, 13%). Of the 15 ASQ-TRAK training workshops, nine have been in the NT. Of the 196 practitioners trained, 25 were identified as facilitators for their organization. CONCLUSION: Despite substantive research translation across Australia, with evidence of its acceptability in different contexts, most Aboriginal Community Controlled Organizations have not yet accessed the ASQ-TRAK, and most organizations have not participated in training. There is an imperative to progress knowledge translation to improve quality and accessibility of culturally appropriate developmental care. Adequately resourced ASQ-TRAK implementation support is needed to ensure sustainable implementation at scale.

Do Autism-Specific and General Developmental Screens Have Complementary Clinical Value?

Prior studies suggest autism-specific and general developmental screens are complementary for identifying both autism and developmental delay (DD). Parents completed autism and developmental screens before 18-month visits. Children with failed screens for autism (n = 167) and age, gender, and practice-matched children passing screens (n = 241) completed diagnostic evaluations for autism and developmental delay. When referral for autism and/or DD was considered, overall false positives from the autism screens were less frequent than for referral for autism alone. Presence of a failed communication subscale in the developmental screen was a red flag for autism and/or DD. An ordinally-scored autism screen had more favorable characteristics when considering autism and/or DD, yet none of the screens achieved recommended standards at 18 months, reinforcing the need for recurrent screening as autism emerges in early development.