Although the ADOS-2 is considered the “gold standard” for ASD assessment, it is important to know that it is just one source of information and is not on its own sufficient for making a diagnosis of ASD. The ADOS-2 should always be part of a comprehensive evaluation that considers a person’s developmental history, information provided by parents and other key informants, behavioral observations both during and outside of the ADOS-2 administration, and the judgement of experienced clinicians.

With the ADOS-2, the assessment takes between 30-60 minutes for a clinician to administer. Clients are typically scheduled with a clinician with whom they have little to no familiarity to obtain a sample of the client’s behavior that is not influenced byprevious interactions. When toddlers or children are being assessed, the parent may be asked to be present in the room for the entire administration. A parent’s primary role is to simply observe, although the clinician may ask the parent to interact with the child in specific ways at certain points during the ADOS-2. For adolescents and adults, the ADOS-2 is typically administered with only the client and clinician in the room.

The results of the assessment are reviewed with families shortly following the completion of the comprehensive evaluation. In some cases, this is during the same appointment as the assessment. In other cases, a separate follow-up appointment may be scheduled to go over the results and discuss recommendations. In addition to spending time with a clinician to review the results of the evaluation and address any questions, families are also provided a written report with detailed recommendations. This is typically available 1-2 weeks following the assessment.