Autism assessment - ADOS Module 4

I recently went through the ADOS module 4 autism assessment and am wondering what they were looking for.  It involved some story telling (around pictures of flying frogs and some objects to bring in to another story), looking at and talking about a kind of child's map and explaining how to brush your teeth.  The thing is, I'm 55 and can, I think do these things rather well.  I'm perfectly used to making up bedtime stories to children and explaining everyday tasks.  I also have a great deal of experience of masking and surviving in the workplace and I'm fairly sure my responses to these questions and tasks would have look at whole lot more autistic when I was in my teens before I developed a whole rake of coping strategies.  I'm the same person, however.  Can I be confident that the assessment result can be reliable? 

Parents
  • Hi, I had exactly the same tasks for my assessment last November.  I have been a teacher for 20 years and had read the book many times with voices and gestures and am also pretty good at explaining things and talking about pictures, so that was the only part of the assessment where I felt comfortable because I switched into teacher mode.  I didn't realise what they were looking for, in fact I only found out after reading the links in your replies so thanks, that was interesting.  I just did my best story telling and explaining!   I got my diagnosis soon after.  Don't worry, that story must be only a small part of it, if your assessment is like mine you will have already filled out endless questionnaire and had to answer many many personal questions and they will have been watching and listening to everything you said, how you said and what you were doing.  I hope you get the answer you are hoping for because going through the assessment is hard enough without having to worry about it after.

Reply
  • Hi, I had exactly the same tasks for my assessment last November.  I have been a teacher for 20 years and had read the book many times with voices and gestures and am also pretty good at explaining things and talking about pictures, so that was the only part of the assessment where I felt comfortable because I switched into teacher mode.  I didn't realise what they were looking for, in fact I only found out after reading the links in your replies so thanks, that was interesting.  I just did my best story telling and explaining!   I got my diagnosis soon after.  Don't worry, that story must be only a small part of it, if your assessment is like mine you will have already filled out endless questionnaire and had to answer many many personal questions and they will have been watching and listening to everything you said, how you said and what you were doing.  I hope you get the answer you are hoping for because going through the assessment is hard enough without having to worry about it after.

Children
  • Yes, I do feel worried that I might not meet the criteria for a diagnosis because then I will have drawn a blank.  I am kind of looking at autism as a kind of unifying theory of why I am the way I am and feel the way I do. Moreover it would explain a lot of experiences and issues within my family.  So, if I'm not diagnosed, I won't know where to turn really.  

    You're right though, the flying frogs were just one small part of the test so maybe it'll turn out OK and I'll get the result (and the validation) I'm seeking.

    Then I might reflect some more on how I survived as an accountant and then a counsellor for so long.