Autism Evaluations

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