Briano Di Rezze1,2, Peter Rosenbaum1, Lonnie Zwaigenbaum3, Mary Jo Cooley Hidecker4, Paul Stratford2, Martha Cousins1, Chantal Camden5, Mary Law1. 1. CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. 2. School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. 3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. 4. Division of Communication Disorders, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA. 5. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada.
Abstract
AIM: Impairments in social communication are the hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Operationalizing 'severity' in ASD has been challenging; thus, stratifying by functioning has not been possible. The purpose of this study is to describe the development of the Autism Classification System of Functioning: Social Communication (ACSF:SC) and to evaluate its consistency within and between parent and professional ratings. METHOD: (1) ACSF:SC development based on focus groups and surveys involving parents, educators, and clinicians familiar with preschoolers with ASD; and (2) evaluation of the intra- and interrater agreement of the ACSF:SC using weighted kappa (кw ). RESULTS: Seventy-six participants were involved in the development process. Core characteristics of social communication were ascertained: communicative intent; communicative skills and reciprocity; and impact of environment. Five ACSF:SC levels were created and content-validated across participants. Best capacity and typical performance agreement ratings varied as follows: intrarater agreement on 41 children was кw =0.61 to 0.69 for parents, and кw =0.71 to 0.95 for professionals; interrater agreement between professionals was кw =0.47 to 0.61, and between parents and professionals was кw =0.33 to 0.53. INTERPRETATION: Perspectives from parents and professionals informed ACSF:SC development, providing common descriptions of the levels of everyday communicative abilities of children with ASD to complement the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Rater agreement demonstrates that the ACSF:SC can be used with acceptable consistency compared with other functional classification systems.
AIM: Impairments in social communication are the hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Operationalizing 'severity' in ASD has been challenging; thus, stratifying by functioning has not been possible. The purpose of this study is to describe the development of the Autism Classification System of Functioning: Social Communication (ACSF:SC) and to evaluate its consistency within and between parent and professional ratings. METHOD: (1) ACSF:SC development based on focus groups and surveys involving parents, educators, and clinicians familiar with preschoolers with ASD; and (2) evaluation of the intra- and interrater agreement of the ACSF:SC using weighted kappa (кw ). RESULTS: Seventy-six participants were involved in the development process. Core characteristics of social communication were ascertained: communicative intent; communicative skills and reciprocity; and impact of environment. Five ACSF:SC levels were created and content-validated across participants. Best capacity and typical performance agreement ratings varied as follows: intrarater agreement on 41 children was кw =0.61 to 0.69 for parents, and кw =0.71 to 0.95 for professionals; interrater agreement between professionals was кw =0.47 to 0.61, and between parents and professionals was кw =0.33 to 0.53. INTERPRETATION: Perspectives from parents and professionals informed ACSF:SC development, providing common descriptions of the levels of everyday communicative abilities of children with ASD to complement the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Rater agreement demonstrates that the ACSF:SC can be used with acceptable consistency compared with other functional classification systems.
Authors: Diana Tajik-Parvinchi; Peter Rosenbaum; Mary Jo Cooley Hidecker; Eric Duku; Lonnie Zwaigenbaum; Caroline Roncadin; Stelios Georgiades; Stephen Gentles; Hanna Fang; Briano Di Rezze Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2022-06-06
Authors: Briano Di Rezze; Stephen James Gentles; Mary Jo Cooley Hidecker; Lonnie Zwaigenbaum; Peter Rosenbaum; Eric Duku; Stelios Georgiades; Caroline Roncadin; Hanna Fang; Diana Tajik-Parvinchi; Helena Viveiros Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2022-06-08
Authors: C E Rice; L A Carpenter; M J Morrier; C Lord; M DiRienzo; A Boan; C Skowyra; A Fusco; J Baio; A Esler; W Zahorodny; N Hobson; A Mars; A Thurm; S Bishop; L D Wiggins Journal: J Autism Dev Disord Date: 2022-01-04