Principal Investigator: Diana Robins, PhD

Study Coordinator: Katherine Sand

Project Summary

Variable fidelity of toddler autism screening in primary care impacts early detection of autism. This study will examine child, primary care clinicians (PCCs; physicians, nurse practitioners), and practice factors that relate to when autistic children are detected by examining medical records from a large, diverse group of practices (based on size, location, affiliation with academic medical center) and collecting information from PCCs (surveys, interviews).

Meet the research team working on ERA:

Diana Robins, PhD

Leslie Ain McClure, PhD, MS

Yasemin Algur, MPH

Katherine Sand

Andrea Wieckowski, PhD

Giacomo Vivanti, PhD

Georgina Perez Liz, MD

Autumn Austin, MS

Renee’ Moore, PhD

Daniel Vader, PhD

Carol Weitzman, MD

Brian Freedman, PhD

Preliminary research findings:

Austin, A., Dufek, S., Perez Liz, G., Freedman, B., Wieckowski, A.T., Weitzman, C., McClure, L.A., Vader, D.T., Vivanti, G., Stahmer, A., Algur, Y., & Robins, D.L. (2025, May). Autism-Specific Training Predicts Primary Care Clinicians’ (PCCs) Confidence in Diagnosing Autism. Poster presented at the International Society for Autism Research, Seattle, WA.

Summary: Being trained to diagnose autism in some patients was significantly associated with higher odds of being confident in diagnosing autism in some patients, OR = 3.64, 95% CI = 2.04 – 6.49,p<.001. Years in practice, age, gender, and race were not associated with PCC’s confidence in diagnosing autism.