Autism Research Institute

Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) Internet Scoring Program

The Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) was designed to assist parents, physicians and researchers to evaluate virtually any treatment for autism. The Autism Research Institute (ARI) has developed this convenient no-cost Internet scoring procedure that will calculate four subscale scores and a total score from the ATEC. The scores are weighted according to the response and the corresponding subscale. The higher the subscale and total scores, the more impaired the subject.

*** Please Read ==> The only way to determine whether or not a specific treatment is effective is to introduce only one treatment at a time and keep other treatments constant. The amount of time needed to decide if an intervention is beneficial varies. In the case of a few interventions, improvements may become apparent within only a few hours, but in other cases it may take several months before benefits appear. Completing 6 to 10 ATECs over a 2- to 3-month assessment period is sufficient to evaluate most interventions. Some interventions, such as the gf/cf diet and the antifungals for yeast infections, often cause a worsening of symptoms for a few weeks, due to peptide withdrawal or yeast die-off reactions. These are encouraging signs, which indicate the intervention will be effective.

Download and print a clean copy of the ATEC using Adobe Acrobat (pdf file).

The four ATEC subscale scores and the total score will be displayed immediately after you input each checklist. A copy of the data will also be sent to the ARI's database to help us develop norms. Information regarding the identity of each person will be kept confidential. If you wish, you may input an identification number for each person rather than entering his/her name, and/or use a code name, rather than entering the name of the intervention being evaluated.

View a statistical analysis of the ATEC.

Although the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of various treatments for autistic individuals, it may also prove useful for other purposes. One such possible purpose is diagnosis. Since the ATEC is a simple one-page form that can be copied freely (it is not copyrighted) and can be scored immediately at no cost at our web site, it might be very useful as a diagnostic tool--IF it turns out that ATEC scores differentiate autistic children from their normal, non-autistic siblings; other normal, non-autistic children; and non-autistic children diagnosed with AD/HD, dyslexia, ADD, mental retardation, etc.

Read our letter to practitioners and researchers.


This site is for educational purposes only. Because this information may be used to assess a person’s health condition,
please consult with a licensed health care practitioner before making any decisions regarding treatment.


A. Information About ATEC User and Project

ATEC User:
Parent Practitioner* Researcher Other:
* Message to Practitioners *


Last Name / First Name of ATEC User:
/

Name of person entering data [if different from above]:

Address1:
Address2:
City: , State: Zipcode:
Country [if outside U.S.]:

Telephone: Fax:
E-mail: <==Please enter your e-mail address



Intervention Being Evaluated

Following is a list of some of the more frequently used interventions. We recommend that you assess
one treatment at a time; otherwise, it will be difficult to determine which treatment was responsible
for any observable changes. Please indicate the intervention you are evaluating:

Biomedical / Non-Drug Education/Training Drugs
Vit. B6 & Mag. Chelation Applied Beh. Analysis (ABA) Benedryl
DMG Specific Carbohydrate Diet Speech therapy Prozac
TMG IVIG Auditory Int. Training (AIT) Risperidal
Digestive Enzymes Gluten-free diet Neurofeedback Ritalin
Methyl B12 Casein-free diet Sensory Integration Secretin
Hyperbaric Oxygen GF/CF diet Occupational Therapy Nystatin

OTHER:

OR

Not Evaluating a Specific Treatment


B. Information Specific to Each ATEC/Person (Research Subject)

Assessment Period
We suggest that at least one baseline ATEC be completed prior to introducing an intervention.
Additional ATECs should be completed every 2 to 4 weeks to assess how well the child is responding
to the treatment.

Which ATEC are you completing today?
Please indicate if you are completing the baseline assessment today or how many weeks (or months)
has it been since you began the intervention.

** Baseline (starting) ** 1 month 2 1/2 months 6 months
1 week 5 weeks 3 months 9 months
2 weeks 1 1/2 months 4 months 1 year
3 weeks 2 months 5 months 1 1/2 years
Other:


Diagnosis: You may check more than one diagnosis.

Autism Asperger Syndrome PDD-NOS Landau-Kleffner Syndrome
Fragile X Syndrome Retts Syndrome Not yet diagnosed
Other (please specify):


Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC)

Last Name / First Name of Child [or identification code]:
/

Sex of Child: Male Female
Age -- Years: Months:
Date of Birth [format: mo/da/yr; e.g., 09/25/98]:
Form Completed By: [first and last name]
Relationship: [e.g., mother, teacher]


Please Click the Appropriate 'Radio Button'

I. Speech/Language/Communication

N = Not true S=Somewhat true V=Very true

1. Knows own name N S V
2. Responds to ‘No’ or ‘Stop’ N S V
3. Can follow some commands N S V
4. Can use one word at a time N S V
5. Can use 2 words at a time N S V
6. Can use 3 words at a time N S V
7. Knows 10 or more words N S V
8. Can use sentences with 4 or more words N S V
9. Explains what he/she wants N S V
10. Asks meaningful questions N S V
11. Speech tends to be meaningful/relevant N S V
12. Often uses several successive sentences N S V
13. Carries on fairly good conversation N S V
14. Has normal ability to commmunicate for his/her age N S V

II. Sociability

N = Not descriptive S=Somewhat descriptive V=Very descriptive

1. Seems to be in a shell - you cannot reach him/her N S V
2. Ignores other people N S V
3. Pays little or no attention when addressed N S V
4. Uncooperative and resistant N S V
5. No eye contact N S V
6. Prefers to be left alone N S V
7. Shows no affection N S V
8. Fails to greet parents N S V
9. Avoids contact with others N S V
10. Does not imitate N S V
11. Dislikes being held/cuddled N S V
12. Does not share or show N S V
13. Does not wave ‘bye bye’ N S V
14. Disagreeable/not compliant N S V
15. Temper tantrums N S V
16. Lacks friends/companions N S V
17. Rarely smiles N S V
18. Insensitive to other's feelings N S V
19. Indifferent to being liked N S V
20. Indifferent if parent(s) leave N S V

III. Sensory/Cognitive Awareness

N = Not descriptive S=Somewhat descriptive V=Very descriptive

1. Responds to own name N S V
2. Responds to praise N S V
3. Looks at people and animals N S V
4. Looks at pictures (and T.V.) N S V
5. Does drawing, coloring, art N S V
6. Plays with toys appropriately N S V
7. Appropriate facial expression N S V
8. Understands stories on T.V. N S V
9. Understands explanations N S V
10. Aware of environment N S V
11. Aware of danger N S V
12. Shows imagination N S V
13. Initiates activities N S V
14. Dresses self N S V
15. Curious, interested N S V
16. Venturesome - explores N S V
17. “Tuned in” - Not spacey N S V
18. Looks where others are looking N S V

IV. Health/Physical/Behavior

N = Not a Problem MI=Minor Problem MO=Moderate Problem S=Serious Problem

1. Bed-wetting N MI MO S
2. Wets pants/diapers N MI MO S
3. Soils pants/diapers N MI MO S
4. Diarrhea N MI MO S
5. Constipation N MI MO S
6. Sleep problems N MI MO S
7. Eats too much/too little N MI MO S
8. Extremely limited diet N MI MO S
9. Hyperactive N MI MO S
10. Lethargic N MI MO S
11. Hits or injures self N MI MO S
12. Hits or injures others N MI MO S
13. Destructive N MI MO S
14. Sound-sensitive N MI MO S
15. Anxious/fearful N MI MO S
16. Unhappy/crying N MI MO S
17. Seizures N MI MO S
18. Obsessive speech N MI MO S
19. Rigid routines N MI MO S
20. Shouts or screams N MI MO S
21. Demands sameness N MI MO S
22. Often agitated N MI MO S
23. Not sensitive to pain N MI MO S
24. “Hooked” or fixated on certain objects/topics N MI MO S
25. Repetitive movements N MI MO S


Check the box if you would like to have the summary and subscale scores as well as your responses to each question emailed to you?


You can have these results emailed to as many as three people and/or organizations, such as your child's clinician using a Defeat Autism Now! approach, ABA therapist, speech therapist, etc. Simply type in their email address below. However, please read the privacy note below.

Message to Parents regarding patient privacy issues.
Because of recent governmental regulations intended to protect the privacy of patients, some clinicians/therapists may not permit information identifying your son/daughter on their email server in filling out the ATEC online. In such cases, you may want to use a code or nickname to identify your child. This code can be placed in the child's first/last name field of the ATEC form. In addition, you may want to avoid including any other identifying information (e.g., telephone number), if you are concerned about privacy. However, we do need your email address. Your email address will not be sent to the clinician/therapist. Only the ATEC scores and responses to ATEC questionnaire items will be forwarded.

We suggest that you contact the clinician/therapist in advance to determine the best way to send your child’s ATEC results.

Clinician/therapist E-mail 1:
Clinician/therapist E-mail 2:
Clinician/therapist E-mail 3: