But enquiring about a child's use of eye contact, sounds, words and gestures can flag up early on if more detailed screening is needed, a study shows.

BBC: Screen may spot autism in one-year-olds

The compulsory phonics check assesses a child's ability to sound out or decode a series of words, some of which are made up, to test their reading skills.

BBC: Pupils learn to read 'in many ways', says laureate

By simply visiting the Parents Portal on MEEPTablet.com from any device with a web browser (computer, smart phone, tablet), parents can not only hand-pick ("whitelist") which websites or keywords their kids have or don't have access to, but they can add words to the tablet's built-in "bad word" list so their child will not be able to search for those words or use them in the chat feature.

ENGADGET: Oregon Scientific MEEP! tablet ships for $150, gives kids a safe, exclamation-filled place to play