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Table 1 The semi-structured interview for the assessment of developmental history, current daily functioning and quality of relationships

From: Autism beyond diagnostic categories: characterization of autistic phenotypes in schizophrenia

Given are the interview questions; a detailed psychometrical evaluation of the instrument will be published elsewhere

Part 1: EARLY DEVELOPMENT

Self regulation

Has anyone ever told you that you cried a lot when you were an infant and that it was almost impossible to calm you down?

Has anyone ever told you about feeding problems when you were an infant?

When you were a toddler, did you avoid eating certain things?

Has anyone ever told you that you had difficulties falling asleep or that you could not sleep through the night?

Motor development

How old were you when you started walking?

When you were a child (between 4 and 5 years old), did you enjoy playing ball, doing rope skipping or other things involving physical exercises?

Which of the following sports did you excel in: Endurance runs, track and field athletics, climbing, dancing, artistic gymnastics, soccer, basketball, volleyball, team handball, swimming?

Have you ever practiced any kind of team sports for at least a year? When was that?

Did you like to do things involving fine motor function, e.g. playing Mikado, building card houses, when you were a child?

Have you ever received occupational therapy, hippotherapy or comparable measures? For how long?

Speech development

At how many months did you speak first words?

At how many months did you speak first two-word-sentences?

Has anybody ever told you that there was something special about the way you talked?

Have you ever had difficulties understanding what other people wanted to tell you?

Have you often been told that you never listened/that you often seemed absent-minded?

Has anyone ever told you that you had a very elaborate vocabulary when you were a child?

Have you ever been treated by a speech therapist?

Part 2: DEVELOPMENT & EDUCATION

Academic performance (proxy for cognitive development)

How old were you at school enrollment?

Have you ever had to stay down a grade? If yes, which grade?

Have you ever skipped a grade?

Have you ever had difficulties concentrating?

Was there a particular subject or topic that you performed particularly well or poorly at?

Quality of social contacts and activities in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood

How did you mostly occupy yourself during the school breaks?

How were the kindergarten times for you (age 3 to 6 years)?

Was in the kindergarten something particularly difficult/unpleasant?

What did you like to play in kindergarten times (age 3 to 6 years)?

With whom did you play in kindergarten times (age 3 to 6 years)?

How were the days in elementary school for you (age 6 to 10 years)?

Was there something particularly difficult/unpleasant?

Did you have friends when you were 6 to 10 years old? How many?

What did you like to do in your leisure time when you were 6 to 10 years old?

How were the high school days for you (age 10 to 18 years)?

Did you have friends when you were 10 to 18 years old? How many?

What did you like to do in your leisure time when you were 10 to 18 years old?

Did you suffer from not having friends or from having few friends?

Part 3: CURRENT STATUS

Daily routines

Now I am interested in your daily routine. Please describe it to me.

Are there any rigid routines, for instance exact and narrow timing of the steps involved in the dental hygiene or getting dressed?

Do certain things belong to a particular place?

Do you prepare lists or schedules? Do you enjoy sorting things? Do these lists/schedules serve a certain purpose for you or others?

On a scale from 0 to 10, how unpleasant are new situations for you?

Why are new situations unpleasant?

What do you like to do in your leisure time?

On average, how many hours do you spend with a particular topic?

Do you like to engage in certain mental routines like counting steps of a staircase or extracting roots?

Are there any numbers you particularly like, dislike or that you pay attention to?

Relationships to others

Who are the most important people in your life?

Is it difficult for you to get into contact with others?

Why is it difficult to get into contact with others?

Is it difficult to maintain a relationship over a longer period of time?

Why is it difficult to maintain a relationship over a longer period of time?

Do you experience misunderstandings with others very often?

What do you think are the reasons for these misunderstandings?

Would you like to have more contact to others?