Autism Assessment and Diagnosis

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Autism Assessment and Diagnosis

Enter your email below to stay up to date with the latest news about testing, research, and webinars from WPS!

Key Questions

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disability that can cause social, communication and behavioral challenges.

ASD is identified by a broad range, or a "spectrum," of symptoms, which can range from mild to severe.

What Does Autism Mean?

Each person with ASD will likely demonstrate unique patterns of behaviors and symptoms, with severity levels ranging from low to high functioning. Yet children diagnosed with “low functioning” autism can be quite functional in areas of life, while those diagnosed as “high functioning” may still need daily help.

Many with ASD will struggle with communication and social situations. They will often experience sensory problems. Some will struggle with low cognitive ability and difficulty learning while others will be gifted academically.

How Clinicians Spot Autism Before Formal Assessment: Symptoms?

Signs of ASD begin shortly after birth or during early childhood and typically last into adulthood.

Infants can display signs of ASD, including reduced eye contact and indifference to caregivers.

Young children with ASD can engage in repetitive behaviors, such as hand movements. Using peripher-al vision, they might pick up a block and place it in exactly the same place. Those with ASD have different ways of learning, understanding and communicating, and reacting to things.

What is the best way to test for autism?

No brain scan or blood test can tell us.

A clinician making a diagnosis must determine if a patient’s symptoms significantly impair their life, including if someone is on the spectrum and if so, what are their unique strengths and differences.

What is Autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disability that can cause social, communication and behavioral challenges.

ASD is identified by a broad range, or a "spectrum," of symptoms, which can range from mild to severe.

What Does Autism Mean?

Each person with ASD will likely demonstrate unique patterns of behaviors and symptoms, with severity levels ranging from low to high functioning. Yet children diagnosed with “low functioning” autism can be quite functional in areas of life, while those diagnosed as “high functioning” may still need daily help.

Many with ASD will struggle with communication and social situations. They will often experience sensory problems. Some will struggle with low cognitive ability and difficulty learning while others will be gifted academically.

How Clinicians Spot Autism Before Formal Assessment: Symptoms?

Signs of ASD begin shortly after birth or during early childhood and typically last into adulthood.

Infants can display signs of ASD, including reduced eye contact and indifference to caregivers.

Young children with ASD can engage in repetitive behaviors, such as hand movements. Using peripher-al vision, they might pick up a block and place it in exactly the same place. Those with ASD have different ways of learning, understanding and communicating, and reacting to things.

What is the best way to test for autism?

No brain scan or blood test can tell us.

A clinician making a diagnosis must determine if a patient’s symptoms significantly impair their life, including if someone is on the spectrum and if so, what are their unique strengths and differences.

What is Autism

What Does Autism Mean?

How Clinicians Spot Autism Before Formal Assessment: Symptoms?

What is the best way to test for autism?

Behaviors Associated with Autism

Behaviors that would signal the need for further evaluation include:

• Making a little eye contact or preferring to be alone
• Having difficulty understanding another’s feelings or talking about their own
• Having difficulty expressing their own needs using common words or motions
• Tending not to look at or listen to others/has difficulty relating to others
• Having difficulty sharing fun objects or activities with others or tending not to look at objects shown by others
• Being slow or nonresponsive to others calling their name
• Having difficulty when making conversation with others
• Speaking about a subject of their own interest despite a lack of interest from others
• Displaying facial expressions and body language inconsistent with the conversation
• Speaking with a monotone or sing-song voice
• Having difficulty understanding another’s point of view
• Often preferring not to be held or cuddled
• Not responding to others’ speaking but responding to other sounds
• Struggling to interact with people they are interested in
• Not playing games that involve pretending
• No longer saying words and expressions they once used
• Stimming, or making repetitive or restricted movements, behaviors, or vocal sounds, including unusual behaviors that are self-soothing and self-stimulating
• Melting down emotionally over slight changes in routine or having difficulty maintaining sleep routines
• Being sensitive to sensory input, including texture's feel, loud noises, temperatures, smells, light, and tastes

Those with Autism Also Have Strengths

Behaviors Associated with Autism

Those with Autism Also Have Strengths

Behaviors Associated with Autism

Those with Autism Also Have Strengths

FAQ 1

FAQ 2

Autism Assessment

ADOS-2: The world's most comprehensive ASD measure

A clinician's chance to see how the child ot adult interacts socially and how much their behavior looks or does not look like autism.
Requires training and takes into consideration the examinee's age, developmental level, and language level.
Includes over 100 stimulus items to assess and diagnose ASD beginning at 12 months old.

ADI-R: Parent-caregiver interview

Lengthy — takes as long as 2 ½ hours to administer and score.
Reveals the examinee's early development, which is critical to an autism evaluation.
A clinician makes rating based on what the parent says and is designed to be used in conjuction with the ADOS-2.

SCQ: Screener for the ADI-R

Available Online

Both current and lifetime forms have simple cutoff point without nuanced details.
Developed from the same author group of the ADOS-2 and ADI-R (because the ADI-R is a long assessment)

SRS-2: Parent and teacher rating scale

Parent or teacher, not the clinician, makes the rating.
Raters judge how much a particular behavior sounds like the child on a scale of 0-1-2-3-4-5.
ASRS and the GARS-3 are rating scales similar to the SRS-2.

CARS2: Clinician rating scale

Only rating scale designed to be completed by the clinician.
Using the CARS2, the clinician is able to gather information from parents and caregivers.

MIGDAS-2: Diagnostic interview guidelines

Qualitative diagnostic interviews centered around a child's preferred areas of interest.
Does not have a standarization sample and scores as a typical measure does.
Sensory-based process that helps clinicians approach the evaluation, conceptualize it, and gather information together.

Resources

Visit the National Institute of Mental Health’s Autism News Page for the latest news and ASD research.

The NIMH also provides free brochures and shareable resources:

Autism Spectrum Disorder: Information related to symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of ASD.
Shareable Resources on ASD: These digital resources, including graphics and messages, can help spread the word about ASD in the community.

Visit the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s Autism Resource Center for more materials.

Get access to resources for families, including A Parent’s Guide to Evidence-based Practice and Autism at the National Autism Center.