What is involved ?

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Can anyone enlighten me as to what is involved during the ASD assessment (ADOS) for the child? (7yrs old)

I know he will be seeing an OT, Child Psych and Speech therapist. But what exactly will they say/do during the assessment process?! !


Thank you in advance

It's usually pretty fun for the kids - The evaluation with the Psychologist is a standard IQ test, with hopefully some personal observations in several settings (with other kids, one on one, etc.) and behavioral/developmental observations from parents/teachers. If the psych isn't well versed in ASD's , you might see more emphasis on the individual behaviors (sensory issues, anxiety, ADD) than on them being part of a larger difference (ASD) - our psych was incredible in that respect.

The OT test is mostly developmental history and a fine motor function test (writing, copying shapes, matching up shapes, buttoning buttons) and usually some eye/hand coordination and balance tests - hopping on one foot, finger to nose.

The ST tests are all pictures/word tests to measure receptive/expressive language, "What are the people in this picture doing?, What do you think the people in this picture are going to do next.?" kinds of questions as well as assessing for general speech delays/issues.

Our son was 4 yo when he did these tests so I would imagine it will be a bit different for a 7 yo but the concepts will probably be similar. One therapist went through flip charts with him to test his vocabulary. The charts had pictures of common objects starting with the very simple, chair e.g., and working up towards things he might not know the name for, thermometer which he called "the thing that tells how cold it is" (she counted that as a correct response!). She also played with him with dolls attempting to instigate "typical" play behavior and observing how he responded. With a 7 yo I would imagine this might be dealt with more directly by asking the child about what happens in certain social situations. I seem to recall some problem solving exercises too. The OT worked with him on doing puzzles and playing with various manipulatives.

I don't know if this was specifically part of the ADOS test but the Child Psych and the Autism Specialist both went to my son's school and observed him in the classroom setting. This was a significant piece of the overall evaluation for him because he came off in the one-on-one testing as a somewhat quirky but perfectly charming little boy but when they saw him in the classroom his differences were apparent.

Overall, for our 4 yo it was pretty fun. He got mad at one of the therapists towards the end of the session but she was able to coax him back to the table and finish what she was working on.

FYI - they video taped a large portion of our evaluation sessions. The autism specialist said that she really liked to do that so she could go back and review some of the responses because it is hard to pick it all up in one sitting.