Re: What Does the ADOS Test Include?

[Guest guest]

Hi Bridget:We've gone through the ADOS testing several times so I feel like we're pros at it. The tests are time-consuming but they are basically play activities for your child. For example, the tester will ask your child to point to things in books, match things, etc. They can be difficult to get through depending on your child's frustration threshold and, as you know, it's not always so easy to get a 3-year-old to do what YOU want him to do when he wants to do something else. So don't be surprised if your child has a meltdown, a tantrum, or the testing session has to be discontinued because the tester feels that your child has hit his limit for the day. That's okay. The goal is for the tester to see as much of your child's behavior as possible,

whether it's negative or positive.I found the sessions to be tiring for me as the parent, but I also found that the results were very helpful even if some of the areas were incomplete because my child just wouldn't participate. My best advice would be to just get as much as you can out of the whole process because the more information you have about your child the better!Good luck!PattiFrom: bridget <beanniferj@...> Sent: Thu,

December 2, 2010 2:26:07 PMSubject: ( ) What Does the ADOS Test Include?

Hi all,

We have just come from an initial meeting with a psychologist who is going to do an ADOS test on our 3 year old son in January (finally - it feels like we have been waiting forever!). She said that she will probably do a combination of modules 2 and 3 because his verbal skills are very strong for his age. I was just curious about what actually happens during the test.

Thanks!

Bridget

[Guest guest]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Patti. Were you in the room while the ADOS

was being done? I forgot to ask about that, and I wondered if the testers feel

like having a parent present can throw off the evaluation?

Bridget

>

> Hi Bridget:

>

> We've gone through the ADOS testing several times so I feel like we're pros at

> it. The tests are time-consuming but they are basically play activities for

> your child. For example, the tester will ask your child to point to things in

> books, match things, etc. They can be difficult to get through depending on

> your child's frustration threshold and, as you know, it's not always so easy

to

> get a 3-year-old to do what YOU want him to do when he wants to do something

> else. So don't be surprised if your child has a meltdown, a tantrum, or the

> testing session has to be discontinued because the tester feels that your

child

> has hit his limit for the day. That's okay. The goal is for the tester to

see

> as much of your child's behavior as possible, whether it's negative or

positive.

>

> I found the sessions to be tiring for me as the parent, but I also found that

> the results were very helpful even if some of the areas were incomplete

because

> my child just wouldn't participate. My best advice would be to just get as

much

> as you can out of the whole process because the more information you have

about

> your child the better!

>

> Good luck!

>

> Patti

>

>

>

>

> ________________________________

> From: bridget <beanniferj@...>

>

> Sent: Thu, December 2, 2010 2:26:07 PM

> Subject: ( ) What Does the ADOS Test Include?

>

>

> Hi all,

>

> We have just come from an initial meeting with a psychologist who is going to

do

> an ADOS test on our 3 year old son in January (finally - it feels like we have

> been waiting forever!). She said that she will probably do a combination of

> modules 2 and 3 because his verbal skills are very strong for his age. I was

> just curious about what actually happens during the test.

>

>

> Thanks!

>

> Bridget

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Bridget:I think parental presence is really up to the tester. My sons first went through ADOS at age 2, which is really young. They didn't want me out of their sight so in order to even do any testing I had to be in the room. Sometimes I had my child on my lap or occasionally had to pick him up off the floor, etc. If things were going well I would just kind of back away and let them proceed. I had to keep telling myself to be quiet and not prompt him to answer or perform, which sometimes was hard. Sometimes the tester would ask him to do something and, if he refused, she might ask me if I knew whether or not he COULD perform the task and just didn't want to at that time. The testers recognize that the younger the child, the less patience the

child has and the more likely it is that it just won't be possible to get through hours and hours of testing in one sitting. They want to make sure they distinguish between "child CANNOT perform task" and "child WOULD NOT perform task". We often had to break up the testing into two-hour sessions over several days. For a very young child it's hard to get a totally completed checklist, but the good testers understand that and they focus on getting as much as possible because any information is good even if the actual scores may be skewed a bit because of the young age of the child.It's tiring for both parent and child, but I really find the results to be helpful for both home and school. I think it's awesome that you are able to do the ADOS at age 3. A lot of doctors/psychologists won't test that young because they feel they can't get usable results, but the more you know the better, right?

PattiFrom: bridget <beanniferj@...> Sent: Thu, December 2, 2010 3:24:43 PMSubject: Re: ( ) What Does the ADOS Test Include?

Thanks for sharing your experience, Patti. Were you in the room while the ADOS was being done? I forgot to ask about that, and I wondered if the testers feel like having a parent present can throw off the evaluation?

Bridget

>

> Hi Bridget:

>

> We've gone through the ADOS testing several times so I feel like we're pros at

> it. The tests are time-consuming but they are basically play activities for

> your child. For example, the tester will ask your child to point to things in

> books, match things, etc. They can be difficult to get through depending on

> your child's frustration threshold and, as you know, it's not always so easy to

> get a 3-year-old to do what YOU want him to do when he wants to do something

> else. So don't be surprised if your child has a meltdown, a tantrum, or the

> testing session has to be discontinued because the tester feels that your child

> has hit his limit for the day. That's okay. The goal is for the tester to see

> as much of your child's behavior as possible, whether it's negative or positive.

>

> I found the sessions to be tiring for me as the parent, but I also found that

> the results were very helpful even if some of the areas were incomplete because

> my child just wouldn't participate. My best advice would be to just get as much

> as you can out of the whole process because the more information you have about

> your child the better!

>

> Good luck!

>

> Patti

>

>

>

>

> ________________________________

> From: bridget <beanniferj@...>

>

> Sent: Thu, December 2, 2010 2:26:07 PM

> Subject: ( ) What Does the ADOS Test Include?

>

>

> Hi all,

>

> We have just come from an initial meeting with a psychologist who is going to do

> an ADOS test on our 3 year old son in January (finally - it feels like we have

> been waiting forever!). She said that she will probably do a combination of

> modules 2 and 3 because his verbal skills are very strong for his age. I was

> just curious about what actually happens during the test.

>

>

> Thanks!

>

> Bridget

>

[Guest guest]

i am curious to know as dh took dd both times  she had the ados so i only have done the cars, ados is much longer than cars though and involves observations i do know

On Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 3:26 PM, bridget <beanniferj@...> wrote:

 

Hi all,We have just come from an initial meeting with a psychologist who is going to do an ADOS test on our 3 year old son in January (finally - it feels like we have been waiting forever!). She said that she will probably do a combination of modules 2 and 3 because his verbal skills are very strong for his age. I was just curious about what actually happens during the test.

Thanks!Bridget

-- -mommy to Emma, Becca, , , , and Leah

[Guest guest]

I definitely agree that the more information we have, the better! Everyone says

that the brain is the most plastic under age 5, so it seems critical to get as

much intervention as we can while my son is still quite young. It took a while

to find someone who could do the ADOS test on a 3 year old child (other than at

TEACCH, where it would be another 6 months before we get seen). Luckily, our

developmental therapist was able to recommend the psychologist we are seeing for

the ADOS.

Bridget

> >

> > Hi Bridget:

> >

> > We've gone through the ADOS testing several times so I feel like we're pros

at

>

> > it. The tests are time-consuming but they are basically play activities for

> > your child. For example, the tester will ask your child to point to things

in

>

> > books, match things, etc. They can be difficult to get through depending on

> > your child's frustration threshold and, as you know, it's not always so easy

to

> >

> > get a 3-year-old to do what YOU want him to do when he wants to do something

> > else. So don't be surprised if your child has a meltdown, a tantrum, or the

> > testing session has to be discontinued because the tester feels that your

child

> >

> > has hit his limit for the day. That's okay. The goal is for the tester to

see

> >

> > as much of your child's behavior as possible, whether it's negative or

> >positive.

> >

> > I found the sessions to be tiring for me as the parent, but I also found

that

> > the results were very helpful even if some of the areas were incomplete

because

> >

> > my child just wouldn't participate. My best advice would be to just get as

> >much

> >

> > as you can out of the whole process because the more information you have

about

> >

> > your child the better!

> >

> > Good luck!

> >

> > Patti

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > ________________________________

> > From: bridget <beanniferj@>

> >

> > Sent: Thu, December 2, 2010 2:26:07 PM

> > Subject: ( ) What Does the ADOS Test Include?

> >

> >

> > Hi all,

> >

> > We have just come from an initial meeting with a psychologist who is going

to

> >do

> >

> > an ADOS test on our 3 year old son in January (finally - it feels like we

have

>

> > been waiting forever!). She said that she will probably do a combination of

> > modules 2 and 3 because his verbal skills are very strong for his age. I was

> > just curious about what actually happens during the test.

> >

> >

> > Thanks!

> >

> > Bridget

> >

>