According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), a guide created by the American Psychiatric Association that health care providers use to diagnose mental disorders, people with ASD often have:
- Difficulty with communication and interaction with other people
- Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors
- Symptoms that affect their ability to function in school, work, and other areas of life
Autism is known as a “spectrum” disorder because there is wide variation in the type and severity of symptoms people experience.
Our office utilizes the ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule–Second Edition) to assist in the classification of Autism. The evaluation of Autism or autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has the following elements:
- Obtaining a thorough background history of the child’s medical, birth, developmental, family, school, intervention, history
- Findings of previous developmental screenings
- Parent/caregiver interview
- Child observation and interactions
- Evaluation using more than one standardized instrument (as clinically indicated)
- Administration and interpretation of the ADOS-2 or the Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised (ADI-R)
Autism Evaluations/Tampa/Florida/ADOS 2
For more information about ASD, visit: ● Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/autism ● National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Autism-Spectrum-DisorderInformation-Page ● National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/autism-spectrum-disorder-communicationproblems-children ● Centers for Disease Control and Prevention www.cdc.gov/autism ● Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee https://iacc.hhs.gov
