Clinical Use of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule–Second Edition with Children Who Are Deaf

 

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Abstract

The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule–Second Edition (ADOS-2) was administered to eight children who are deaf and who are native American Sign Language (ASL) users with previous autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Classification on two different module selection criteria was compared based on: (1) standardized administration rules (signs not counted as equivalent to words) and (2) commonly utilized clinical administration (sign language complexity treated equivalently to spoken language complexity). Differential module selection resulted in discrepant classification in five of the eight cases (63%) and suggests that ADOS-2 via standardized test administration may result in a failure to identify autism among children who are deaf with primary communication in ASL. Two of the eight children (25%) did not exceed the cutoff for an ASD classification on either module administered despite previous ASD diagnosis. Overall results suggest that caution should be used when utilizing the ADOS-2 with children who are deaf who primarily communicate using ASL.

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