Interesting reading today about researchers at Cardiff University, King’s College London and the University of Bath have developed a potential checklist tool to help doctors detect hidden signs of autism in adults.
The new study, published today in Molecular Autism, they have devised a 31 compensatory strategies checklist to guide doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists in what to look for and ask to identify autism in adults.
The checklist was developed by asking autistic people what ‘social scripts’ they use and what ‘compensatory strategies’ they use during everyday social interactions.
Little is known about these strategies, and professionals are unaware of what to look for. The new checklist could help with assessing adults who appear to be non-autistic ’ on the surface, especially those who are highly intelligent.
Autism Awareness
The checklist may help improve awareness of more invisible features of autism to GPs. But can also be a tool to help adults understand their own behaviours. It should help improve awareness of the more invisible features of autism.
“Ultimately, this could mean that autistic people receive a more accurate and timely diagnosis.”
The 31-item Compensation Checklist, quantitative compensation scores were supported by the Medical Research Council UK and the National Institute for Health Research UK.
Checklists Make A Difference in Medical Industry
Simple checklists can make a difference in everyday life, not because they are this amazing cure but because our minds can not store everything. Use checklists as a guide, a prompt, so items are not missed or forgotten.
Checklists have been used in a number of ways within the health industry. Medical checklists have been used to reduce infection and reduce death in surgery as discussed in the Checklist Manifesto. But also for the doctor’s and staff’s mental health when the NHS devised the going home checklist.