ACT Supports Research into Early Screening

At ACT we are very concerned about the children who are not being referred for an autism assessment at a young age, despite their parents articulating concerns. We are aware that there are many reasons for this. Having been impressed by the community response to the Screening Tool for Autism in Two-year-olds (STAT) developed by Dr. Wendy Stone (view brochure for more information), ACT Board of Directors decided to support another training. Using $10,000 in funds raised from workshops in 2005, ACT has provided STAT training to four SLP’s, one IDP consultant and an SFU graduate student in 2006. We are extremely pleased this is a co-operative research project involving Vancouver Coastal Health, the BC Autism Assessment Network and the Autism Research Lab of Simon Fraser University.This effort will ensure we determine whether the STAT is effective and worthwhile as a screening tool to use across BC.