1.
You will not be ready to start using the ADOS-2 immediately after finishing the training.
Learning the ADOS-2 is like learning to drive. Passing your driving test does not mean you are a completely competent driver. You can drive on the road, but not on motorways. The more practise you get, the better driver you become. This is true for the ADOS, too. You have to practise the skills you learn on the training before you can start administering it confidently and competently as part of autism assessments.
It will be difficult to develop these skills without people that can help you, e.g., let you observe ADOS-2 assessments, observe you doing the ADOS-2 and give you feedback. People who have been in assessment teams, who have been able to shadow more experienced clinicians, and have supervision, have been the most successful.
2.
A clinical psychologist, a psychiatrist or a paediatrician has to be in the team carrying out autism assessment as they are trained in differential diagnosis and, as a result, currently are the only professionals who can diagnose autism.
A range of different professionals can administer (but not diagnose) the ADOS-2, e.g., speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, nurses, psychologists, social workers, education specialists, researchers.
N.B., some teams only want to take on assessors who are registered with the HCPC (The Health & Care Professions Council).
Information about ADOS-2 training on UCSF’s website (University of California, San Francisco, where Somer Bishop, one of the ADOS-2 author, works) states that the introductory training is for:
-People who are involved in autism assessments
-People who are interested in learning more about using ADOS-2 in autism diagnostics
-People who will be using it for research purposes
The training is intended for people who have a certain level of experience working with autistic people and doing assessments. This is because it is much, much harder to understand the training and learn how to use the ADOS-2 without this knowledge.
3.
The ADOS-2 is not diagnostic on its own. It is only diagnostic when it is put together with the developmental history, information from other sources, such as school, work, and screeners, e.g., for mental health and sensory processing.
Autism Assessment is made up of the following:
The ADOS-2 is not the right assessment for everyone, and other forms of direct observational assessment can be used. For example, selective mutism, severe developmental delay, severe mental health difficulties. Some clinicians do not use it to assess adult women.
The more experienced clinicians are, and the more they know about the huge range of different ways that autism presents in people, e.g., internalised and externalised presentations, co-occurring conditions, the more they learn about the person they are assessing using the ADOS-2.
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