ADOS Assessment

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I hope it works out for you. Im going to arrange a 2nd opinion. Ill pay for it myself if need be. Im furious they lost those CAST forms.

I got a glimpse of the 13 page report.

"No stereotyped or repetitive behaviours"

What a load of bs. They were told from multiple sources that i stim constantly. Was aware i was even doing it during the assessment.

She was very patronising if im honest. She said a lot of people go in there wanting an autism diagnosis so they can use it as an excuse for various things in their lives not going right, implying i was after an excuse.

Im not like that. Im not the type of person who thinks "oh..things are crap..wish i had an autism diagnosis so i can use it to justify my crap life...". Im trying to fix my life and knowing what causes these issues would give me a direction to go in. Now i have to do this therapy sessions which ive been informed will be difficult.

My partner believes them so now he things i shouldnt worry about it and move on and now probably thinks im looking for an excuse as well.

Yeah. Easier said than done.

I had the same thing happen. After I "failed" to show signs of autism on the ADOS, I went in for a more thorough evalutation. I went to someone who specializes in diagnosing adults. He took a look at my ADOS results and snorted. The ADOS isn't "normed" to 40 year old adults. So they are giving you a test of social skills and affect designed for a 14 year old boy. But if you've been practicing for all those years between 14 and now, it seems obvious that you would gain some skills no matter how bad you are at it naturally.

The ADOS completely disregards an adult adultisitic's ability to train one's self to appear normal. Over time, we do learn more about social norms and about how to apply ourselves around strangers.

It's really a problem, because ADOS is all about how you look. It defines autism therefore, as a problem for OTHER people. It completely ignores what is a problem for US. Autism from this POV is all about how other people perceive you. That's really messed up. We even have parents who think that their kiddos don't have autism anymore because they've learned how to look normal. There is no logic in this, just ablism and a sad reflection on how little the field of psychology is really able to measure what is going on with a person.

Thanks. You made me realise that I'm on the right track...

I'm going to go with the flow. I'm sure psychotherapy will reveal more....

My GF enquired about a private assesment at The Priory in London ( the only place she found that does it ). It is a 2 day assesment and will set you back £750 .

I think your partner is just trying to be positive for you.

My GF just told me she believes there may be a hidden agenda with the NHS/Government at the moment. If we had money we'd go private to take any hidden agenda's out of the equation - sadly I can barely afford the rent.

If you don't get the result you wish...maybe requesting psychodynamic therapy may be a good route. It's a lot deeper than the ADOS assessment and may reveal a lot more about you. It supposedly explains personality in terms of conscious and unconscious forces, such as unconscious desires and beliefs. It also delves into your childhood which I'm NOT looking forward to.

It may reveal autism at a later date.

Last edited by davidmcg on 13 Oct 2016, 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

My evaluator called me to say that I didn't qualify because I don't have restricted interests. And that's not even on the DSM definition anymore. And the really funny thing is that I had my laptop on my lap, playing a ring of Star Trek episodes to calm me while she talked. I've watched the same tv shows and listened to the same music for 30 years. Because once I figured out to how to produce calm with media, I just stuck with it. But she didn't know that. (She couldn't see me over the phone.) She was basing this on the fact that when she asked what I do for fun, I gave her my standard socially acceptable answer - I like to hike with my dog. She never asked if I had restricted interests. If she did I would have told her. That's the really weird thing about the ADOS. They try to trick us into revealing ourselves. But they don't need to do that. We aren't a population that is likely to be honest if they ask clearly.

Good! That is what I did when my first diagnostic assessment went off the rails. I found the best diagnostic clinic in the state and paid it myself.


Me too! My diagnostician at my second assessment stated that, while it didn't change my diagnosis, she didn't notice any "stereotyped or repetitive behaviours." I reminded her that my stim is swiping desk or table tops while talking, and, absent that, I swipe my pants. She then realized that what she thought wasn't anything significant, actually meant something.


The diagnostician at my first assessment said something similar to me. She actually admitted to me that "when people show up here wanting an autism diagnosis, we just diagnose them with anxiety." Two weeks later, she diagnosed me with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. Sheez!


I never "wanted" an autism diagnosis, and I haven't ever met anyone who did. It is extremely distressing that your partner isn't more loyal. He should at least wait until you have exhausted all options.

From what I've heard about the ADOS I cant see me having a problem and it revealing anything. If I have got ASD it would definately be at the highest functioning end and my biggest problems are my comorbids.

This is a close cousin to psychoanalysis. It is not a treatment for autism. An autistic person may use it for other reasons, but it will not affect the autism.

Psychoanalysis has a long history of abusing autistic people. For more information, read the sticky at the top of the general information area about france. You can also google psychoanalysis and autism. But be warned, it's often really messed up stuff you'll read about on that topic.

I was one of those kids who was exposed to this. I was given psychoanalysis for 4 years between the age of 8 and 12. No surprise, it did not affect my autistic symptoms.

My ADOS-2 results included an overall score of 11 (one point beyond threshold), so I am pretty much at "the highest functioning end" myself. Its "Social Responsiveness Scale" test revealed much more about my problems with socializing than I ever knew or suspected (its overall score severity was "extreme").

Hello. I was wondering where it said your score for the ADOS? I looked through my whole report and it didn't say what I scored on it. It did tell my SRS-II scores though. But for the SRS, I was just trying to figure out where I belonged, but I need the adolescent girls one to figure out my actual score. It just gave me the sub scores. All the psychologist that diagnosed me said that I met the cut-off criteria for autism in the ADOS, so I'm above a 10, so at least 11 or above. How do I know where though? It probably depends on the assessment too, but I looked in my social, emotional, and behaviour section and it wasn't there.

Well, my written assessment report included my score toward the conclusion of the report. But, I admit that it was included only because the score that my diagnostician(s) had told me verbally (10) had been revised (11) after the fact. I suspect that if they hadn't reported your overall score to you, you could easily ask them to tell you verbally or send a written letter to you with the score.

One of the problems with ASD evaluation is that the shrinks don't plan for autistic responses to the questions. To get the most accurate and relevant information, they have to be explicit and straight-forward with their questions. They ask questions with subtext, then the neurodivergent client (autistic or otherwise) interprets the question literally, gives an answer that pertains to the exact wording of the question, the full answer is never revealed, and the shrink ends up missing the evidence of autism or Asperger's.

Asking what someone does for fun to find out about restricted interests is an example. "Fun" is an ambiguous concept that can mean different things to different people, and stereotyped behaviors can be for soothing and not for fun. Actually, if you only said that you liked hiking with your dog, that seems fairly restricted to me. Did you give any other answers?

Greetings. I looked near there, read all the information about the autism aspect because the assessment was a neurodevelopmental assessment, and saw nothing. I just read several times that I have met the cut-off criteria and that I'm high functioning.

Why did your diagnostician(s) revise it? Did they tell you why?

I would like to ask them, but I was told I probably not keep asking them stuff so I haven't ask anything. I will need to email them though some time in the next year for university. I need them to submit some forms for the AccessAbility department so I can get accommodations I believe. I need the assessment, plus a few other forms. But I guess I'll add this onto my "what do I need to ask" list for the psychologist. I am also wondering about if I should ask her about some of the disorders related to autism like prosopagnosia or alexthymia or whatever, along with why more executive functions weren't checked for my assessment (mainly just cognitive flexibility and inhibition). Kinda going off topic now, sorry.

This comment confused me. How is it not wanting an autism diagnoses if you go in to get tested knowing full well what you are being tested for? If someone didn't want the diagnoses, would they not go in and get tested to find out?

I think what AspieUtah meant was that he didn't go in looking to pin his problems on autism, he went in with a handful of symptoms and a suspicion, and laid the symptoms out on the table for an expert to evaluate, and say, "yes these are signs of autism" or "no these are signs of something else". People who "want" an autis diagnosis in the way AspieUtah is referring to it are the ones who exaggerate or dramatize any symptoms they have, twisting them to fit the diagnostic criteria whether they actually do or not.

To paraphrase Sherlock Holmes, "one begins to twist symptoms to fit diagnoses, rather than diagnoses to fit symptoms."