Research School Network: New Large Scale Autism Research Study in Bradford How primary schools can support a groundbreaking new study

As the ​‘City of Research’, Bradford is at the forefront of a number of exciting developments. In this post, Kuldeep Sohal, Connected Yorkshire Programme Manager at the Bradford Institute for Health Research, writes about a ground-breaking new project in Bradford – and how Bradford’s primary schools can help.

There are inequalities in the diagnosis of children with autism in the United Kingdom. Data from the Born in Bradford cohort study suggest that around 100 children born at BRI between 2007 and 2011 will have autism that is undiagnosed before they reach 5 – 8 years.¹ Children of mothers educated to A‑Level have around twice the rate of autism diagnosis.

How can we change this? We are really excited to be leading a large scale autism research study across the Bradford region aimed at improving these health inequalities. Using routinely available educational data, we aim to create a quicker pathway for autism diagnosis which could be more cost-effective and lead to much earlier diagnosis.

Based on the promising results from previous research studies at the Bradford Institute for Health Research ², our team has worked with 10 primary schools in Bradford to test the efficacy of our approach. Information from the routinely taken scores from the Early Years Foundation Stage profile (EYFSP) was used to identify high risk children and teachers were asked to apply the Social Communication questionnaire (SCQ) – a screening tool for autism. This study showed that it is feasible to carry out a larger study across the district.

The method of linking education data with health data has the potential to drive efficiencies in children’s services, reduce health inequalities and improve early intervention and quality of life for large numbers of children and their families.

What next? We aim to improve the process by screening the ​‘at risk’ of autism population based on results from the EYFSP using the SCQ with the view to provide a quicker pathway for children with autism to be identified as early as possible. This will suggest a cost-effective, sensitive and specific method of enabling fast-track assessment and subsequent early intervention.

To do this, we will need the help of Bradford’s schools.

The BiB team would like to identify children who are currently in year 1 in 2020 – 21 who are at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. The BiB team will be contacting schools directly in the next few weeks to request the EYFS information for all children in year 1 in 2020 – 21. The EYFS information will begin the process of identifying the at risk children. From this information, children that are at risk will be identified and we will request your support with a short questionnaire. The EYFS and questionnaire information will be used to determine if the child requires a full assessment for autism to be done in the school or needs to be referred onto a neurodevelopmental care pathway.

For any further questions, contact: PUNCH@​bthft.​nhs.​uk

1 Kelly, B., Williams, S., Collins, S., Mushtaq, F., Mon-Williams, M., Wright, B., Mason, D., & Wright, J. (2019). The association between socioeconomic status and autism diagnosis in the United Kingdom for children aged 5 – 8 years of age: Findings from the Born in Bradford cohort. Autism, 23(1), 131 – 140.

2 Wright B, Mon-Williams M, Kelly B, et al (2019). Investigating the association between early years foundation stage profile scores and subsequent diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder: a retrospective study of linked healthcare and education data. BMJ Paediatrics Open;