Ados

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Have any of you taken the ados? How accurate is it? What is it like? What score did you get?

I had the ADOS done, but I've not gotten my score yet. It was interesting. I really want to know my score. There was a combination of things I needed to do and questions I needed to answer. It FELT a lot more accurate than my initial evaluation.

(It was done for a research study for me but I was told I could get my score, so I need to ask them for my score the next time I see them)

I took the ADOS module 4 (for verbal adults) as part of my assessment in March. The "autism spectrum" score is 6, the "autism" score is 10; I scored a 13. It's broken into three broad categories: communication, reciprocal social interaction, and stereotyped behaviours and restricted interests. These categories are further broken down into specific behavioural cues, such as "stereotyped/idiosyncratic words or phrases", "conversation", "descriptive, conventional, instrumental or informational gestures", "quality of social overtures", "facial expressions directed to others", etc. Each behavioural cue is given a number from zero to two. Zero means the behaviour is normal and there's nothing wrong. One means something is slightly off, and two indicates significant impairment.

The test has five modules from toddler to module 4, which take into account age, developmental level, and speech capacity. Each module has different games and activities geared towards the appropriate age group to look for the above listed behaviours. The point of the ADOS is to gague autistic behaviour without the patient being aware of what you're doing or looking for. For example, in the toddler module for nonverbal children aged 12-30 months, the examiner will test for joint attention by pointing at a toy and seeing if the child looks toward the object he's indicating. The entire test is set up like a series of games, or, as with modules 3 and 4 for more verbally fluent and older patients, personal interviews and games.

The ADOS is considered to be the "gold standard" of autism tests; it's currently one of the most accurate and reliable we have. The examiner engages the patient while an observer sits to the side and records the scores; this eliminates the need for the examiner to go back and rewatch the session on video, which may bias his results as he already knows what to expect from the child.

During module 4, I:

Read a picture book with no words in it and tried to create a cohesive story from the images (I failed at this and only succeeded in describing the details on each page as separate entities.)

Described the details of a cartoon drawing (again, paid too much attention to irrelevant details and failed to create a cohesive "plot" involving the humans and their perceived emotions.)

Pantomimed the steps involved in tooth-brushing using an imaginary sink and toothbrush (I think this was supposed to be a test of imagination or abstract thinking; I'm not entirely sure.)

Had a conversation about feelings, what friendship looks like, why people get married, etc. (apparently this was less of a "conversation" and more of an "interview". I didn't realise my examiner wanted a real conversation; I thought I was just meant to be answering her questions.)

Created a brief story using random small objects, pretending they were different from what they really were (e.g a playing card became a bed and a clothespin became a person: I did fairly okay with this, but it took several minutes to come up with a sufficient story line.)

You'll most likely take module 4, unless your speech or social/emotional capacity is delayed to the age of a 7-10 year-old, at which point they may try module 3. The severity of the diagnosis (level 1, 2 or 3) is assessed subjectively by looking at how strongly each of the symptoms affects you. Can the patient mostly make eye contact, or does he never look at faces? Does he know how to smile and say his name to greet people, or does he launch directly into a monologue? Does he tell people when sensory problems are upsetting him, or does he fly into a meltdown? etc. The ADOS itself won't provide the severity level; your doctor will look at the number and severity of the traits you have (how many zeros, ones and twos) and make a subjective judgement about your functioning level.

The ADOS has cutoff scores, below which they say you don't have autism, above which they say you do. Each module has different cutoffs, but module 4 has a minimum of 6. That means you have to have a total of 6 points, I think 3 from communication and 3 from restricted and repetitive behaviours, to qualify for an ASD diagnosis.

My score of 13 came from the fact that I had 5 points in the communication category, and 8 in the restricted and repetitive behaviours category.

Is it OK to admit that I thought Jeni mis-typed Adios and this was to be a farewell post?

ADOS Module 4 seemed like a freakin' joke to me. Frankly, I don't see how anyone except children or rather severely affected adults would score autistic on that thing. It seemed more appropriate for adolescents at the oldest.

What do you think of it? do you think it's accurate? Compare it to other tests.

I did the ADOS and scored into the autism domain.

I think that the examiners are looking for a good big sample of your language and communication, so when they ask you to describe brushing your teeth or to tell a story from the book without words, they're looking for clues about the way you communicate and think.

For example in my report, the pyschologist wrote that I was 'completely unable' to do one of the tasks, which was a surprise to me because I did all the tasks. So I'd imagine the tasks are a press or 'springboard' to put you in a situation where a certain kinds of thinking or communication are required and the examiners look at how you go about doing those tasks.