Project description

A diagnosis of autism can be made in preschool aged children, and must include the intellectual level of the child. However, carrying out an intellectual assessment at such a young age involves several challenges that can affect the quality of the results obtained. This longitudinal project aims to better measure the intellectual potential of autistic children, and to better predict their subsequent development. Participants include autistic children, children with developmental delays without autism and children without developmental differences, aged between 2 and 5 years old during their first visit. These children are assessed using various conventional cognitive tests and tasks based on their strengths. This provides a complete picture of the strengths and weaknesses of each child. 

Another goal of the project is to identify specific behaviors or interests that can be measured in preschoolers and that can predict intellectual level at school age. Thus, children are invited to participate in a filmed play situation including toys with stimulating perceptual properties (ex. toys with texture, toys with sound effects). This situation makes it possible to observe certain repetitive behaviors (ex: hand flapping) and restricted interests (ex. for numbers) as well as certain emotional expressions. Children are then reassessed one and two years later in order to document the development of their cognitive skills. Longitudinal data allows us to identify the predictors of competencies in these same children at a later age. 

This project will provide more tools to help predict the cognitive potential of preschool and school-aged autistic children, in addition to documenting the evolution of cognitive development in these children. Refining our knowledge of the cognitive development of autistic children will allow for a more valid diagnostic assessment, for a referral of these children to appropriate interventions according to their real potential and will allow us to set appropriate objectives for their learning.