Have just copied and pasted a reply to a similar question posted back in July 2008 which someone else asked which I found very useful. We are awaiting our ADOS what I would say is do not be tempted to rehearse the situations with your DC as you want to get an accurate picture.
HTH and good luck let us know how you get on x
Can anyone talk me through what happens in the ADOS?(10 Posts)
Add message | Report | Message poster nikos Tue 29-Jul-08 09:37:54
DS scheduled to have this next month - I think module 2. Can anyone talk me through what happens? How good a diagnostic tool is it?
Add message | Report | Message poster daisy5678 Tue 29-Jul-08 12:20:08
MODULE TWO: for those who use phrase speech but who are not verbally fluent.
Construction task
here they might ask him to put a puzzle together and see how he responds to help/ something being moved.
Make-believe play
Joint interactive play
which will test his imagination and how well he interacts with the tester.
Conversation
this will look at how well he can communicate in a 2 way conversation - eye contact, gestures, facial expression and sticking to the topic etc.
Response to joint attention
seeing if your child looks at something interesting when the examiner does.
Demonstration task
asking him to demonstrate something e.g. teeth brushing
Description of picture
seeing what they point out and how well they can describe.
Looking at a book
I think this is when the examiner asks what the characters are feeling/ thinking/ doing
Free play
to see 'how' they play - normally or obsessively. I think there's a spinning toy they bring out.
Response to name
does the child turn and look or not
Birthday party
I think that this is where they do a pretend party with toys and see if the child can play it right
Snack
Anticipation of a routine with objects
Bubble play
I think this is where the examiner will blow bubbles and see if your child asks them to carry on when they stop.
MODULE THREE: for verbally fluent children
Construction task
Make-believe play
Joint interactive play
Demonstration task
Description of a picture
Telling a story from a book
Cartoons
Reporting a non-routine event/conversation
Emotions
Social difficulties/annoyance
Break
Friends/loneliness/marriage
Creating a story
My J had module 3, so it will be slightly different, but I'll tell you what I know!
It's the 'gold standard' for diagnosing autism/ Aspergers/ ASD, in conjunction with a parental interview and/ or questionnaire to get a feel of the history.
It stands for Autistic Diagnostic Observation Schedule and it's worldwide renowned for being the closest thing to scientific that you can use in this sort of disorder's diagnosis. It's a standardised series of activities, and for my son, was videoed and had one psych doing the test and me, his psychiatrist and 2 other mental health people in the video observation room watching him and the psychiatrist doing the test.
The idea is that they do the same tasks with every child in the same order and in the same way, and they know what a 'normal' child would do if they said 'what makes you happy?' and what an autistic child would do.
It measures eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, quality of speech, ability to start and carry on a conversation and other stuff like that. It tests how well they communicate and interact.
My son was asked to complete a puzzle, make up a story using toys, play with toys with the tester, play with toys by himself, read a book with the tester and talk about how the characters might have felt, describe a picture, talk about what made him happy/ sad/ cross/ lonely, who his friends were and why they were his friends (couldn't do any of the emotional ones), show the tester how he does his teeth and other stuff I've probably forgotten! It lasted over an hour and was quite hard for him to cope with so he kept doing all his little rituals that he always does at CAMHS - moving the furniture, opening the doors and windows, turning the lights on and off etc.
It was really clever and really revealing to watch e.g. the tester said, to start a conversation, I went on holiday this summer. Now I'm guessing most kids would ask where she went or some other question, but J said 'I go on holiday in the summer'. And he kept bashing th table into her legs and she said 'that hurts', so he turned to her with a smile and said 'thank you' because he knew he was supposed to say something, but wasn't sure what.
The test is scored out of 22 and the cut off for mild autism is 7. The cut off for autism is 12. J scored 20, putting him well into the autistic range.
I think it's a really accurate tool because it picks out all the subtleties. They score loads of small items in 3 main categories with numbers - 0 means normal; 1 means slightly autistic symptoms; 2 means symptoms are clear
Communication category scores for : amount of Social Overtures/Maintenance of Attention; stereotyped/Idiosyncratic Use of Words or Phrases; conversation; pointing; descriptive, Conventional, Instrumental, or Informational Gestures and then the communication total is out of 9 (Autism cut-off = 5; autism spectrum cut-off = 3)
Reciprocal Social Interaction category scores for: unusual Eye Contact; facial Expressions Directed to Others; spontaneous Initiation of Joint Attention; quality of Social Overtures; quality of Social Response; amount of Reciprocal Social Communication; overall Quality of Rapport and then the Social Interaction Total is out of 14(Autism cut-off = 6; autism spectrum cut-off = 4)
Communication + Social Interaction Total is out of 22(Autism cut-off = 12; autism spectrum cut-off = 8)