Community health care providers and other professionals involved in supporting optimal child development (eg, early childhood educators) play a critical role in working with parents to identify early signs of ASD. Screening and surveillance are complementary processes aimed at identifying children who require further assessment, with an overall goal of reducing or preventing subsequent disability through earlier initiation of Key Learning Objectives By the end of this chapter, readers will be

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... le to: • identify necessary team members and define team member roles for the diagnostic assessment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD); • recognize how the caregiver history, history from other sources, physical examination, informal observation, and formal observation contribute to the diagnostic assessment; • conceptualize and integrate the assessment findings into a formulation that addresses the diagnostic question in the context of the child's neurodevelopmental profile; and • communicate the findings of the assessment effectively with families, providing an informative summary and interpretation.