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What is the ADOS Test?

Dr. Mary Barbera

If you have a child with autism or young toddler showing signs you may have heard of ADOS testing. The autism diagnostic observation schedule – or the ADOS test – is a standardized diagnostic tool for testing for autism in children. The ADOS testing is a series of semi-structured tasks and structured tasks during which the examiner provides a number of chances for the subject to demonstrate communication and social skills. A person needs to be trained in order to conduct this professional autism test.
Today, I’m going to share with you about this test and what you can expect from it. There are no blood tests or brain scans to detect autism. Instead, there are lists of behaviors that practitioners look for to indicate that autism exists and should/can be diagnosed.

Some autism tests, such as looking for pointing, looking for pretend play and looking for language at age appropriate levels is incorporated into the ADOS test. It is the gold standard for diagnosis for many years now. Pediatric hospitals, school systems, even independent clinicians use ADOS testing for autism. So, here is what you can expect if a practitioner, a physician or a multidisciplinary team performs an ADOS test.

What Is ADOS Testing?

I trained on the ADOS many years ago now. The process of completing an ADOS test is making direct observations under controlled circumstances using standardized scenarios. And then you take a look at how the child reacts in those controlled situations.
One of the subtests that I remember testing is pretending to have a birthday party. You take the young child who is not talking at all or not talking much into a clinical area, a sanitized room, with no distractions or toys. Pull out a baby doll, Play-Doh, candle, and plate.
Then say that you are going to have a birthday party and follow a script to make the Play-Doh into a cake and put the candle on. Maybe you would see if the child puts a candle on. Then see if the child sings to the baby doll. See if the child puts the Play-Doh fake cake onto the plate.
And so you score based on what happens in that scenario with the setup of the baby doll. If the child chews on the candle, that would be an abnormal behavior for that age. That would be a negative score towards the diagnosis of autism. It would indicate more autism was present. The more unusual behaviors such as licking the plate, trying to eat the Play-Doh would be behaviors that might indicate autism.
On the other hand, if the child sings to the baby, puts the candle in the cake, claps after the song is done, those would add to a more positive score. Indicating that maybe it isn’t autism. This is just one of the setup scenarios within the ADOS that helps practitioners really see if a child is showing signs of autism.

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ADOS Test for Autism

There are different levels of the ADOS. The autism diagnostic observation schedule is mainly used for children. However, it can be used for older kids who you’re not sure have ADHD, speech delays, or obsessive compulsive behavior. There’s also a part of the ADOS that can be used for adults that have not been diagnosed yet.

In level one of the ADOS, the practitioner and the scenarios will be set up to look at how children respond to their name, if they’re pointing, and other language indicators. A lack of pointing is a red flag for children. They should begin pointing between 15 and 18 months of age. Pointing indicates interest and allows children to show something to a caregiver. Throughout the ADOS, while you’re working on the birthday party and different scenarios, you’ll also be watching for language, response to their name, and those sorts of things. Now, let us get to the specifics of what ADOS testing is.The ADOS test comprises four modules that are appropriate to children (as well as adults) of various language levels, from the non-verbal to conversational. The ADOS assessment of less verbal children falls in Modules 1 and 2. The ADOS 3 test is forthe assessment of more able and verbally fluent children. The test for autism also has a toddler module exclusively for children between 12-30 months old.Moreover, the select scores of the ADOS 2 test in the communication and social sections are combined in the diagnostic algorithm. This test for autism then sums up the repetitive behaviors and typecast interest pattern scores as a separate domain.Another related aspect that is no less important is what ADOS assessment for autism involves.The ADOS autism test typically takes place in a room with two clinicians. One of them engages the child and leads the activities while the other observes and records data. The ADOS assessment scoring generally takes between 45 minutes to 1 hour and ends with the clinicians meeting the parents to collect more information.

If you’re worried about a child showing signs of autism, ask your pediatrician about getting a referral for an ADOS test. In the meantime, you can learn my step by step approach that works for young children with and without autism by first going to marybarbera.com/quiz and then watching my free workshop to help you get started on the right path today.

Free Workshop to Learn to Turn Autism (or Signs of Autism) Around

Want to start making a difference for your child or clients?
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