In Japan, community-based health checkups for babies are at 4 months, 18 months, and 36 months. These mass screenings by healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, etc.) at local health centers are to prevent diseases and disorders. Attendance rates are usually high (80~99%), and these checkups do exams for physical and developmental delays. Also now, they are expected to play a role in early identification of developmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). This study in a small town north of Tokyo, aimed to identify infants “at risk” for ASDs or other developmental disorders before 2 years, and to explore promoting early intervention to prevent or minimize deviance from typical social development in community-based check-ups through developmental surveillance. Methods Future Directions Developmental surveillance during the first 2 yrs of life in community-based baby check-ups: Data from 15 mths and 20 mths Emiko Kezuka Midori Okuno Gunma Prefectural Women’s University, Japan Gunma Paz College, Japan Figure 1 shows a flowchart of the checkups at the Health Center in Tamamura (population: 37000, number of births per year: 270). Participants are about 20 children each time; it takes about one and a half hours. Table 1 shows the developmental assessment items for monitoring by nurses at 15, 20, and 27-months. The Social Attention and Communication Study (SACS) conducted at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre in Melbourne (Barbaro & Dissanayake, 2010 ； Barbaro, Ridgway, & Dissanayake, 2011) which aimed to identify ASDs refers to these, however we modified their task items to fit our culture and checkups. Behavioral items focused on social attention and communication, such as Eye contact, Joint attention, and Pointing, but also included some Motor skills. These items were completed with each infant in the form of a social play that aimed to be a model of interaction with infants and parents. It took about minutes to examine these items and interview the parents. We started at the 15 months check-up in 2012, and are now following these infants until 27 months. Figure 2. Behaviour Items and Pass Rates (%) A total of 221 infants were monitored at 15 months in 2012; of these, 166 who attended both the 15 and 20 months checkups were targeted. Figure 2 shows the pass rate of 166 infants assessed at each age. Pass rates were over 80~ 90%, except for pointing at 20 months. We screened infants who failed more than 2 items at each age. 7.2% of 166 infants were screened at both the 15 and 20 months checkups (Group A). 12.0% of 166 infants were screened only at 20 months (Group B). 10.2% of 166 infants were screened only at 15 months (Group C). 70.5% of 166 infants were not screened at either checkup (Group D). Figures 3 show the different failure rates on items in the four groups. A chi- square analysis of each item revealed a significant difference among the four groups (p < 0.01, df = 3) with the Group D showing higher pass rates in all items at both 15 months and 20 months. We identified three groups of infants, which each had distinctive developmental problems and unique needs. The infants in Group A had difficulties with social attention and communication, but also had problems with gross and fine motor skills. Of 12 infants in Group A, we identified one infant with severe developmental delay and two infants with suspected ASD. (Two of these infants have been introduced to an early intervention center, but they have not diagnosed yet. In Japan, usually pediatricians diagnose ASD, and there are a few who diagnose ASD below two years old). The infants of Group B are showing a decrease in developing social attention and communication at 20 months. We introduced intervention programs (individual consultation by a psychologist, group intervention programs in the health center) to their parents. We need to follow up on these infants until 27 months to confirm whether their decrease could be temporal, in conjunction with their increasing locomotive abilities, or not. The infants in Group C are slow in developing social attention and communication (or showing temporal stranger anxiety) at 15 months, but they mostly caught up by 20 months. A high failure rate of Joint attention at 15 months in this group suggests that Joint attention with a stranger might be harder than with parents at this developmental stage. The most challenging point is the difficulty in motivating parents to join our early intervention programs. Before 2 years (or 3 years), most parents are not able to agree that their children have some developmental problems. We made leaflets advising parents on engaging with their children. We are planning to distribute the leaflets to all parents, not to selected parents, at the baby checkups for wider education and also to avoid social stigma. Introduction Results & Discussion Dental/Medical check & Developmental assessment Interview by nurses Physical measurements Consultations with nurses Consultations with psychologists as needed Registration Figure 1. Baby Checkup Flowchart Figure 3. Failure Rates (%) at Each Item in the 4 Groups Table 1. Items Checked at 15,20,and 27 Months Consultations Behaviour Age at which behaviour is monitored 15 months20 months27 months Eye contact ✓✓✓ Joint attention (JA) ✓✓✓ Fine motor (& Imitation) ✓✓✓ Use/understanding of language ✓✓✓ Gross motor ✓ Turning to name call ✓ Pointing ✓ Pretend play ✓✓ Showing ✓ 15 months 20 months 15 months 20 months