Autism screening
The M-CHAT-R, explained
The M-CHAT-R is the screen most families start with when their child is still a toddler. It is short, you fill it out yourself, and it gives you a sense of whether a closer look is worth your time. Here is what it actually does.
What the M-CHAT-R is
The full name is the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised. It is a list of twenty plain questions about the things your child does in an ordinary week, and you answer each one yes or no based on what you have seen at home. Nobody knows your child the way you do, which is exactly why the M-CHAT-R puts the questions to you rather than to a stranger in a clinic.
It was built for the toddler years, roughly sixteen to thirty months, because that is when the earliest signs of autism tend to show themselves and also when support makes the biggest difference. The whole thing takes only a few minutes, and it is free.
What it looks at
The questions circle around the small, everyday ways toddlers reach out to the people around them. Some ask whether your child points at something across the room just to show it to you, or follows your gaze when you look at something yourself. Others ask whether your child looks up when you call their name, brings you toys to share a moment, or copies what you do. A few ask about pretend play, about how your child reacts to sounds, and about whether other children seem to interest them. None of it is a test your child can pass or fail. It is simply a structured way of noticing patterns that are easy to miss when you are living them day to day.
What your result means
The M-CHAT-R adds up to a single score, and that score falls into one of three ranges. A low result suggests there is little reason for concern right now. A medium result means a handful of answers are worth a second look, and the next step is usually a short follow-up conversation that clears up the borderline questions. A higher result points toward getting a fuller evaluation rather than waiting. In every case the score is a signal about whether to keep looking, not a verdict, and we go through whatever it shows with you before anything else happens.
A screen is a first look, never a diagnosis.
A result that raises a flag does not mean your child is autistic, and a quiet result is not a promise that everything is typical. The M-CHAT-R was designed to be sensitive on purpose, so it catches more than it needs to, which means a flagged result often turns out to be nothing once a clinician takes a closer look. What it gives you is a sense of whether the next conversation is worth having. When you are ready for that conversation, we are here for it.
Take the M-CHAT-R
Tell us about your toddler and we will send it over.
Share a few details and we will email you the M-CHAT-R, then follow up to go through your answers and talk about what they mean. If you would rather start with a voice, call us and we will walk you through it on the phone.