Towards system redesign: An exploratory analysis of neurodivergent traits in a childhood population referred for autism assessment.
<h4>Background</h4>Children's health services in many countries are moving from single condition diagnostic silo assessments to considering neurodevelopment in a more holistic sense. There has been increasing recognition of the importance of clinical overlap and co-occurrence of dif...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296077&type=printable |
| _version_ | 1797355136663683072 |
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| author | Jason Lang Georgia Wylie Caroline Haig Christopher Gillberg Helen Minnis |
| author_facet | Jason Lang Georgia Wylie Caroline Haig Christopher Gillberg Helen Minnis |
| author_sort | Jason Lang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Background</h4>Children's health services in many countries are moving from single condition diagnostic silo assessments to considering neurodevelopment in a more holistic sense. There has been increasing recognition of the importance of clinical overlap and co-occurrence of different neurotypes when assessing neurodivergent children. Using a cross-sectional service evaluation design, we investigated the overlap of neurodivergences in a cohort of children referred for autism assessment, focusing on motor, learning, and attention/activity level domains. We aimed to determine what proportion of children in a cohort referred for an autism assessment showed traits of additional neurodivergences, and what proportion were further investigated.<h4>Methods</h4>We evaluated anonymised medical records of children aged between two and 17 years referred for autism assessment. We used validated questionnaires to assess for neurodivergent traits. A weighted scoring system was developed to determine traits in each neurodevelopmental domain and a score above the median was considered to indicate a neurodivergent trait. Evidence of further investigations were recorded. We then examined the relationships between autism traits and traits of additional neurodivergence.<h4>Results</h4>114 participants were included for evaluation. 62.3% (n = 71) had completed questionnaires for analysis. Of these, 71.8% (n = 51) scored greater than the median for at least one additional neurotype, indicating the presence of other neurodivergent traits, and 88.7% (n = 64) attracted a diagnosis of autism. Only 26.3% of children with evidence of additional neurotypes were further investigated beyond their autism assessment.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our results demonstrate the extensive overlap between additional neurodivergent traits in a population of children referred with suspected autism and show that only a small proportion were further investigated. The use of standardised questionnaires to uncover additional neurodivergences may have utility in improving the holistic nature of neurodevelopmental assessments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:06:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4339618ea0d748769764556dc10dc2a0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T14:06:55Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-4339618ea0d748769764556dc10dc2a02024-01-15T05:31:26ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01191e029607710.1371/journal.pone.0296077Towards system redesign: An exploratory analysis of neurodivergent traits in a childhood population referred for autism assessment.Jason LangGeorgia WylieCaroline HaigChristopher GillbergHelen Minnis<h4>Background</h4>Children's health services in many countries are moving from single condition diagnostic silo assessments to considering neurodevelopment in a more holistic sense. There has been increasing recognition of the importance of clinical overlap and co-occurrence of different neurotypes when assessing neurodivergent children. Using a cross-sectional service evaluation design, we investigated the overlap of neurodivergences in a cohort of children referred for autism assessment, focusing on motor, learning, and attention/activity level domains. We aimed to determine what proportion of children in a cohort referred for an autism assessment showed traits of additional neurodivergences, and what proportion were further investigated.<h4>Methods</h4>We evaluated anonymised medical records of children aged between two and 17 years referred for autism assessment. We used validated questionnaires to assess for neurodivergent traits. A weighted scoring system was developed to determine traits in each neurodevelopmental domain and a score above the median was considered to indicate a neurodivergent trait. Evidence of further investigations were recorded. We then examined the relationships between autism traits and traits of additional neurodivergence.<h4>Results</h4>114 participants were included for evaluation. 62.3% (n = 71) had completed questionnaires for analysis. Of these, 71.8% (n = 51) scored greater than the median for at least one additional neurotype, indicating the presence of other neurodivergent traits, and 88.7% (n = 64) attracted a diagnosis of autism. Only 26.3% of children with evidence of additional neurotypes were further investigated beyond their autism assessment.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our results demonstrate the extensive overlap between additional neurodivergent traits in a population of children referred with suspected autism and show that only a small proportion were further investigated. The use of standardised questionnaires to uncover additional neurodivergences may have utility in improving the holistic nature of neurodevelopmental assessments.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296077&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Jason Lang Georgia Wylie Caroline Haig Christopher Gillberg Helen Minnis Towards system redesign: An exploratory analysis of neurodivergent traits in a childhood population referred for autism assessment. PLoS ONE |
| title | Towards system redesign: An exploratory analysis of neurodivergent traits in a childhood population referred for autism assessment. |
| title_full | Towards system redesign: An exploratory analysis of neurodivergent traits in a childhood population referred for autism assessment. |
| title_fullStr | Towards system redesign: An exploratory analysis of neurodivergent traits in a childhood population referred for autism assessment. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards system redesign: An exploratory analysis of neurodivergent traits in a childhood population referred for autism assessment. |
| title_short | Towards system redesign: An exploratory analysis of neurodivergent traits in a childhood population referred for autism assessment. |
| title_sort | towards system redesign an exploratory analysis of neurodivergent traits in a childhood population referred for autism assessment |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0296077&type=printable |
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