There's a tool that can diagnose autism as early as 12 months of age

Good news or not? However, there is possibly already some serious overdiagnosing of Autism Spectrum Disorder going on. Spectrum is a very wide and vague term!

If this diagnostic test is applied to all children as routine checkups like in Victoria, Australia, the number of children diagnosed with ASD will most likely go up significantly. I think, caution should be advised!

Unfortunately, the diagnostic test (SACS-R) featured in this article is largely based on observable behavioral indicators! Whether some odd behavior of a child that may even occur only temporary should lead to a stigmatizing diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder is questionable! Once diagnosed a child and its parents may end up in a self reinforcing dynamics aggravating what was possibly a minor, transient oddity into a serious disorder.

"Approximately 2% of individuals around the world are on the autism spectrum, although some studies claim that the rate is closer to 4%. ...
Every child in the Australian state of Victoria must attend a routine health check at 12, 18 and 24 months. As of 2019, SACS-R has been included in those check-ups. A total of 13,511 children underwent these check-ups. The data shows that while not perfect, the method is very effective at detecting autism in infants: by 24 months, autism was detected in 83% of cases and by 42 months, the detection rate increased to 96%. ...

This is why having access to an accurate diagnosis tool can be so important, even if it’s not perfect. In a new study, researchers assessed the effectiveness of one such method called SACS-R [Social Attention and Communication Surveillance–Revised].

The diagnosis tool was developed over 15 years by Professor Barbaro, and it is mostly aimed at identifying behaviors associated with autism, including infrequent or inconsistent use of:

1. gestures, like waving and pointing at objects
2. response to name being called
3. eye contact
4. imitation or copying others’ activities
5. sharing interest with others
6. pretend play

SACS-R has been used in some parts of Australia, and health professionals in ten other countries around the world (including Poland, Japan, New Zealand, China, Bangladesh, and Singapore) have received some training in it. But until now, it wasn’t known exactly how well the method works. ..."

There's a tool that can diagnose autism as early as 12 months of age Research has confirmed that a screening tool for autism developed by researchers in Australia can successfully detect autism in 83% of children aged 12 to 24 months. Coupled with a preschool check, 96% of children on the autism spectrum were identified by 3.5 years old.

I presume, this is the scientific article underlying the article above:

Diagnostic Accuracy of the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance–Revised With Preschool Tool for Early Autism Detection in Very Young Children (open access)