ADOS

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I just did the ADOS test today, and I think I probably looked like a complete ret*d. I was so incredibly nervous about the test, but I really think I did terrible.

the what test?

The ADOS test is part 2 of the standardized procedure for diagnosing autism spectrum disorders. I did the ADI-R already which is an interview the psychologist does with the parent, and the ADOS test today, which was with just me. It tests social skills, communication, and you have to do a bunch of activities. I just think I made a fool out of myself without even knowing it.

How did you make a fool out of yourself? What did you do with the ADOS that made you look bad?

That is, if you feel comfortable saying so.

Sympathies for your frustration. I know I had some after-the-fact regrets/issues after I was diagnosed. I

Verdandi, did you do the ADIR/ADOS??

I did the puzzle...and then though later I should have put a pattern in it instead of just putting the different colour blocks wherever. That was not what made me look really stupid though. I felt with the book and then acting out the tooth brush and facewashing went bad. I just felt like an idiot the entire time. Shouldn't I be able to make up a child's story to go with a picture book? I think I sounded/looked dumb, or else looked like I wasn't trying when I was.

I have not, but I would like to. My therapist said it was obvious to her early on. When I went in for my official diagnosis, I heard again that it was pretty obvious that I was autistic. Even so, I feel that while I have a diagnosis, that no one has identified my deficits sufficiently to really be able to categorize them in any kind of objective manner. I do know what both entail to some extent. I will be getting a second more thorough evaluation this year, although I do not know if the ADOS or ADI-R will be involved.

And, as far as it goes, not being able to make up a child's story to go with a picture book doesn't make you look stupid at all. It makes you look like you're on the spectrum. This is one of the tasks we're notoriously bad at - the ability to look at something without any social context and make up stories about it. NTs can add enough social context to make up a detailed story with motivations and situations, but we usually find it much harder or even impossible.

All they want you to do with ADOS is be yourself and do what comes naturally, because these tasks are how they test you for autistic traits. If you can't do a task very well, then it's likely because your autism makes it more difficult, not because of any lack of intelligence.

I felt kind of silly doing allot of the ADOS, I wish they had made at least some changes if they were going to use it as a diagnostic tool for adults.

I failed to make up the story as well. I had to do it based on a 5 props pulled randomly from a bag, but it was a disaster, so so bad. it was such a childish task, which made failing at it seem much worse. Luckily I would not rank making up these stories as an essential life skill.

Although the worst for me was when the examiner asked tell me what it feels like to be sad. I was so stunned, sad was the most basic emotion I knew, there was nothing bellow it that i could use to define the experience.

After what felt like an eternity, all I could rattle off was a long list of ridiculous synonyms for sad: despondent, morose, disheartened, downtrodden ... yes, but these are just other words for sad, please try to explain sad ... ... ... Ok then, lets just move on to something else

Verdandi, thanks for that! I do feel a bit better! It was a picture book that I had to look at with no words in it, and I pretty much just said a very, basic obvious sentence about each picture. It was not really a story nor was it very creative at all.

Huntedman, I had to do this kind of story as well. I was allowed to pick the props. It took a long time for me to choose the props, and then I did make about a two sentence story for them, and that was all I could do.

I didn't realize how hard it would be for me to describe the emotions either. But thinking about it now, I really have no clue how to describe emotions at all. She asked me what anger felt like. That is probably one of the strongest emotions I feel, and all I could say was "hot" because whenever I am angry my head feels really hot and tingly. When asked about happy...I don't even remember what happy feels like. And I couldn't describe sad either.

There are different ADOS procedures/props/etc for different ages. They should have used an adult-appropriate ADOS with you (and it's possible they did).



I think this is, btw, a test of theory of mind and social imagination. Which is to say, your ability to predict other people's reactions and determine what they are thinking. The specific task itself is not an essential life skill, but what it measures can have a significant impact on one's life. I think many of us learn how to intellectualize it, though.



I... can't describe what it feels like to be sad either.

Verdandi, yes, that is the adult level that she used for me: module 4...I am assuming it was the same for him as well as we had the same (or very similar) tasks.

Also, how does that test Theory of Mind? I am really curious about that. My story was just really simple:

I picked a pog with a boxing scene on it and leaned it against a red square block. Then I sort of copied what she did (I don't know if she picked up on that or not). She used a shoe lace as a road, so I used a popsicle stick as a "wooded path". She used a non-human-like thing as a person, so I used the same object and half a Q-tip as another person. My story: "two friends walked down a wooded path and........saw a fight".

You are being tested on your ability to attribute mental states to objects standing in for people, I suspect. It's very easy for NTs to do this.

I think it also ties into imaginative play.

Hmmm...I don't know if my story "passed" or not then. If she hadn't given an example first and just let me go ahead and do it alone, she would have had a very different story on her hand. The only reason I called the q-tip and the other thing a person was because she did it. I never would have thought to use a shoe lace as a road or a hair tie as a lake. I would have made something about about a literal shoe lace and a hair tie.

Well, what was the story she told compared to yours?

Also, that you imitated what she did will probably be pretty obvious to her. I mean, people who administer these have to be trained for it.

I did the ADOS a few years ago. I tried SO hard to "pass." I said "I don't know" a lot, though, such as about emotions and about making up stories. I scored really firmly in the "autism" category in communication (something like 10 or 12?) and in the ASD category for social and repetitive behaviors... which is about accurate. I do pretty well socially, but I'm not that functional verbally.