A question re the ADOS

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Within the various modules is there one standard way of it being applied? Or is it done on a case by case basis?

The ADOS is defined as “partially standardized”. Some parts, like the tasks and the instructions given to complete them, are delivered the same way every time, but others, like the conversation questions, are nonstandard by their very nature, even though the same questions are asked every time.

Thanks . The 'conversation questions' bit sounds a bit daunting.

It's not so hard, really they just ask you things like how you define friendship, how you know someone is a friend, why you think people get married, things like that. They're just looking to see if you understand how relationships etc. work in a "traditional" or neurotypical way.

I concur with StarTrekker; it wasn't half as daunting as I expected it to be once it got started. A fair bit of what's covered will be themes which are familiar to you already from discussions here on WP. The assessor should be well aware of the anxieties and behavioural/language effects which autistic people might experience in that clinical setting, and should make allowances for that. Even expressing the concerns that you've spoken of before, about aspects of the diagnostic process and the veracity your own or others' observations of your behaviour, might be useful to the assessor; so there's no need to hold back out of politeness or deference to the "experts".

The main thing to remember is that there are no right or wrong answers to anything that you're asked. If you need to take your time to express an answer clearly, then do. If you are having difficultly answering a question, then say so. How you approach answering is as important as the answers themselves, so trying to anticipate what kind of answer is expected and putting on a "performance" would defeat the object of trying to observe your innate behaviours. Just be the person you are when you're posting on WP, and it will go just fine.

Mine asked me to describe a picture and then started a conversation from there. I wasn't really aware of what was going on until after it was over looking back at it. I realized I mostly had a one sided conversation.

The part I struggled with was word associations, describing how certain words relate to one another. The questions were weird and worded in a way I had never been asked about it before, nor never thought about. I had difficulty putting my thoughts into words that made sense.

Thanks all of you. I find 'Putting on a performance' difficult. I am as I am,inept or not. I tend to flounder when I feel pressurised. I can pick the meaning of a word from a list,but have real difficulty being asked to describe a word off the cuff.