An Australian-developed set of tools designed to detect autism in young children has attracted international interest. The Autism Detection in Early Childhood (ADEC) which sets 16 behavioral tasks for young children will assist doctors to detect autism at an age much earlier than now possible.

Designed at Flinders University, South Australia, the set of tasks will give health professionals the ability to screen children as young as 12 months for autism or autistic tendencies. Previously autism in children was not detected until children were three of four years of age.

Associate professor in psychology at Flinders University, Robyn Young, told the ABC this early diagnosis was crucial to a child's development.

"It's critical, because to change a child's behavior when they are five, six, seven [years old] is really very difficult, particularly when a lot of their behavior is developed out of frustration for their inability to communicate," she said.

The ADEC steps are published by ACER Press online as a a manual, a training DVD, a score sheet for each child assessed and stimulus materials.