Vanderbilt Kennedy Center

Screening Tool for Autism in Toddlers and Young Children (STAT™)

The STAT is an empirically based, interactive measure developed to screen for autism in children between 24 and 36 months of age. It is designed for use by community service providers who work with young children in assessment or intervention settings and who have experience with autism. The STAT consists of 12 items and takes about 20 minutes to administer. Activities assess key social and communicative behaviors including imitation, play, requesting, and directing attention.

Training on the STAT can be accomplished in three ways, depending on your professional needs and background.

test administrator screens a child for autism with toys and visual cues

STAT™ Training Workshop

Administering the STAT

A small group setting for learning and practicing STAT administration and scoring.

Upcoming workshops

Online STAT™ Training Tutorial

STAT Test Kit

For those who prefer to learn the STAT at their own pace.

Learn more

STAT-MD Training

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For physicians in pediatric practices seeking a more comprehensive approach to early identification that combines the STAT with other techniques.

Learn more

See Also...

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Links

  • STAT-MD Training
    Two-day workshop provides training for MDs in conducting autism-focused assessments within community practice settings.
  • About the STAT Test Kit
    An interactive web-based application that provides thorough instruction on item administration and scoring, and includes video examples and practice tests for screening children for autism.

News Releases and Media Mentions

  • Program aims to reduce waits for identifying autism disorders
    A Vanderbilt Kennedy Center (VKC) study aimed at training community pediatricians to quickly identify autism spectrum disorders within their own practices demonstrated agreement between pediatrician judgments and independent diagnostic evaluations in a large majority of cases.