How Is The Evaluation Of Autism Spectrum Disorders?
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) could be detected at an early age and for this it is necessary that a specialized professional with extensive experience be in charge of carrying it out, since cases have been observed of children who do not receive a diagnosis until reaching a certain age.
When carrying out the evaluation of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), it usually begins with an interview with the parents and the child who has overcome it, and another interview is also carried out together. Once the initial interviews have been carried out, different tests would be carried out to make a more precise evaluation (e.g., tests on cognitive development, evaluation of attentional development, standardized ASD tests such as the ADI-R or the ADOS-2, etc.).
In this article we will explain in more detail how everything usually develops the evaluation process for autism spectrum disorders by professionals.
Characteristics of the evaluation of Autism Spectrum Disorders
It is important to highlight that the evaluation of autism spectrum disorders can be quite complex and that is why the professionals who are in charge of it should previously be extensively trained and trained for it, and it is common to begin with the help of a expert until you have enough experience to be able to make a correct evaluation.
The diagnosis process, along with the prior evaluation for autism spectrum disorders, usually lasts several hours, and it may even be necessary to extend it over several sessions if necessary in those cases in which the detection raises doubts among professionals; Therefore, more diagnostic tests would be necessary and could provide a more accurate evaluation and diagnosis.
The initial interview
Before carrying out the corresponding tests for the evaluation of autism spectrum disorders, an initial interview must be carried out. Therefore, It usually begins with an interview with the parents and another with the child separately.
The interview with the parents usually begins with questions related to the reasons why they have come seeking professional help, in addition to analyzing possible previous reports that another professional (e.g., the psychologist) could have previously made. of the school the child attends and/or the testimony of a teacher).
Next, a history would be taken, asking the parents about their child so that the evaluating professional could get a general idea about the possible problems that the child could have and how these interfere with his or her environment. different areas and for this they would have to be asked a series of questions about relevant aspects of the child’s life (e.g., behavior at home and at school, relationship with other children of their age, hobbies, tastes, routine flexibility or difficulties in day to day life, etc.).
Regarding the topic of hobbies and tastes, it is important to collect information especially in order to know if the child has very specific tastes or very restricted interests since it is common for people with autism to have very restricted interests and spend long hours focused on them.
Subsequently, another anamnesis will be carried out on the child directly, collecting information similar to that consulted with his parents in order to be able to compare it later and thus obtain the most precise information possible. Additionally, while this interview is taking place it is important pay attention to certain non-verbal details of the child such as eye contact while communicating with the professional who is conducting the assessment with them and other details such as whether there are motor stereotypies (e.g., constant twisting of fingers, hand shaking, etc.), or echolalia , among others.
Evaluation of autism spectrum disorders
Once the initial interview with the parents and the child has been carried out, a series of specific tests and tests will be carried out for the evaluation of autism spectrum disorders (e.g., cognitive development tests, the D2 test or others that They are usually used in order to carry out an evaluation of their logical-mathematical, linguistic, etc. capacity.
1. Cognitive development
In the process of evaluating autism spectrum disorders, it is important that tests be carried out to evaluate the child’s cognitive development since these serve to delve deeper into certain aspects that could have been addressed in the initial interview and could also help detect other psychopathologies, if any, in addition to ASD or any possible problem or difficulty related to evolutionary development.
To carry out the evaluation of cognitive development, tests such as the Merrill Palmer Scale which is used with the little ones in order to evaluate their development globally, being important to pay special attention to analyze some aspects such as symbolic play or the theory of mind.
On the other hand, it is also common to use the Leiter International Manipulative Scale, which allows for an evaluation of non-verbal attention, as well as certain cognitive and neuropsychological skills, among others. In addition, it is common to use the Wechsler Scales (e.g., WPPSI, WISC) that allow an evaluation of intelligence and certain cognitive abilities.
2. The ASD evaluation
Evaluation through standardized tests will be one of the most important in the evaluation process of autism spectrum disorders. These tests would essentially be two: the ADI-R test, which is carried out with the parents, and the ADOS-2 test, which would be the one that would be carried out with the child or adolescent.
With the ADI-R test, an interview is conducted with the aim of exhaustively analyzing certain aspects that could be used to evaluate ASD, such as certain signs or indications observed by parents or even by teachers and the psychologist at the school where their child attends. In this test, some relevant areas are mainly evaluated: social interactions, behavior, language, communication, possible restricted and repetitive interests, etc.
On the other hand, with the ADOS-2 test, the same areas would be evaluated as with the ADI-R test, only in this case the procedure would be carried out with the child or adolescent. This test would be focused on the objective of looking for various characteristics related to ASD cases (e.g., restricted and repetitive interests).
3. Assessment of social development and adaptive skills
When carrying out the evaluation of autism spectrum disorders, it is important to resort to the use of tests that evaluate the social development and also the adaptive skills of the child. For it, It is worth highlighting the Vineland Scale which is used to perform a detailed assessment of personal and social skills that are important and useful in people’s daily lives.
On the other hand, within this area of evaluation, we must not forget the Australian Scale, a 24-question test that professionals use in order to evaluate certain behaviors that are quite common in people with ASD. This would be a test that could be carried out with both the child’s parents and teachers.
4. The evaluation of communicative and language development
It is essential to carry out specific tests to analyze communication and language development when carrying out the entire evaluation process for autism spectrum disorders. For it, The CSBS Scale is used (Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scale) which consists of a questionnaire made up of 24 questions that parents should answer in order to detect some important warning signs of the child; being a test that is carried out with the parents of the youngest children (6 to 24 months of age).
If the child is between 18 months and 7 years old, it would be more advisable to use other tests such as the Reynell III Language Development Scales. These scales are usually used to detect possible problems related to language and communication.
5. The evaluation of attentional development
Finally, in the process of evaluating autism spectrum disorders, it is also important that specific tests be carried out that can be used to evaluate attentional development. For it, It is quite common to use the D2 Attentional Test a test that is made up of a time trial that serves to measure the child’s processing speed, following instructions and also the execution of the task that has been ordered.
Now that we have seen what the evaluation process for autism spectrum disorders consists of, we will have been able to observe that it is a quite complex process and hence the importance of it being carried out by qualified and experienced professionals.
It should be noted that also This evaluation can be completed with other tests that allow a more detailed diagnosis, such as the SCL-90-R test commonly known as the “90 symptoms test”, which is used to evaluate the symptoms that could be present in each case since this test allows evaluating various dimensions (e.g., anti-aging, interpersonal sensitivity, phobias, etc. .).
