Early recognition of difficulties in communication development of children aged 0-3 years is crucial for inclusion in early intervention programs and early diagnosis. According to the National Framework for Screening and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children aged 0-7 in Croatia (2018), it is recommended that primary pediatricians perform the first step of screening the entire population of children aged 18 months and the second step at 24 months in those children who achieved a positive result in the first step. In accordance with the outcome of the second step, the child would be potentially referred to a developmental assessment or specific diagnostic protocol for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The research was conducted to determine how pediatric residents assess their own ability to recognize difficulties in early communication development and what are their views on the role of primary pediatricians in the screening for ASD. 53 pediatric residents from various health care institutions in Croatia participated in the research and they filled out a questionnaire designed for this research. Participants mostly agree that primary pediatricians should be able to recognize difficulties in early communication development and participate in the screening. Furthermore, given the continuous monitoring of children's development and frequent communication with parents, they have good preconditions for monitoring clinical indicators of suspected ASD. However, they estimate that there is a lack of protocols in primary pediatric offices for systematic monitoring of these clinical indicators. In addition, they reported that more time should be devoted to the content on early communication development during their formal education. The assessment of the age of occurrence of certain milestones in early communication development shows that their knowledge is quite uneven, and that they generally place the occurrence of certain behaviors in a later period than when they should actually occur. For example, almost half of the participants (45%) state that would tolerate the absence of the first word until the age of 24 or 36 months, while international guidelines suggest an age of 16 months for this milestone. Accordingly, they believe that they need additional education on typical development, difficulties and their recognition. The results are potentially important for developing systematic education of future pediatricians on identifying difficulties in early communication development and guidelines for monitoring clinical indicators of suspected ASD.