The M-CHAT-R autism screening is recommended for children at what age range?

Prepare for Pediatrics Exam 2 focusing on early childhood care. Use our multiple choice questions and detailed explanations to enhance your understanding. Ace your exam!

Multiple Choice

The M-CHAT-R autism screening is recommended for children at what age range?

Explanation:
The timing of the M-CHAT-R screening is focused on toddlers in the 18–30 month window. This age range is when early social-communication signs of autism become reliably detectable by parent report and when the tool has been validated most for screening broad populations. Guidelines commonly recommend universal autism screening at 18 and 24 months using the M-CHAT-R with its Follow-Up Interview to improve specificity. Screening before 18 months tends to be less reliable because some behaviors are still developing, and beyond 30 months the tool’s validation is less strong. So the best-supported window for this screening is 18–30 months.

The timing of the M-CHAT-R screening is focused on toddlers in the 18–30 month window. This age range is when early social-communication signs of autism become reliably detectable by parent report and when the tool has been validated most for screening broad populations. Guidelines commonly recommend universal autism screening at 18 and 24 months using the M-CHAT-R with its Follow-Up Interview to improve specificity. Screening before 18 months tends to be less reliable because some behaviors are still developing, and beyond 30 months the tool’s validation is less strong. So the best-supported window for this screening is 18–30 months.

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