AGU launches first GCC copy of International Autism Diagnosis Scale

The Arabian Gulf University (AGU) has announced that it has successfully completed the regulation of the third edition of the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale in GCC States, as an approval was obtained from the publisher to translate the scale to Arabic and apply it on a sample from GCC States; including Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom, the UAE and Kuwait. The third edition of Gilliam Autism Rating Scale is considered to be one of the international scales that is widely utilised across the world to diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and to determine the severity of the disorder.

It was designed in line with the recent changes to the diagnosis of disorder mentioned in the fifth edition of the Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Assistant Professor in the Learning Disabilities and Developmental Disorders Department in AGU’s College of Graduate Studies Dr El Sayed El Khamisi, who is also in charge of the translation and regulation project of the scale, said that the project was applied before two years and that the initial results were demonstrated during an international conference held in Bali, Indonesia, last year.

The results of translating and regulating the scale were welcomed by the participants in the conference. Dr El Khamisi added that the procedures were continued and resulted in issuing a scale based on the GCC standards. The scale is the first of its kind not only in diagnosing ASD, but also in determining the severity of the disorder in high and low functioning people with autism, in addition to the provision of GCC diagnosis standards for Arab and non-Arab speaking patients with autism.

The academic said an electronic form of the scale is being developed to enable users of instantly detecting the severity of autism. Specialists in GCC States will be soon trained on the use of the scale in both forms; paper and electronic.