CARS2 - Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Second Edition: Identification of ASD for children 2 years and older. cognitivecenter.com/assessment
The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition (ADOS-2): Latest research from The National Library of Medicine @ ncbi.nlm.gov
The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) (Vineland-2): measures adaptive behavior and identified intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, and developmental delays. speciallearning.com
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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Autistic disorder (AD), Asperger Disorder (AS), Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDDNOS) are all classified as autism (Xavier et. al., 2015). In addition to the subcategories, given the etiology of the disorder and the wide and varying range of various and possible multitudes of comorbid disabilities that can overlap with an ASD diagnosis, it is unsurprising that there is a need for a variety of and more than one assessment tool that can be used to provide diagnostics of symptoms, severity of symptoms, and focus of impairment to assess needs and inform service planning. The following is a list diagnostic tools used to assess Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition (ADOS-2) a standardized assessment tool used to diagnose autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in individuals. According to Mehling & Tassé, "The ADOS-2 is a measure of particular usefulness in informing severity determination of social communication and restricted and repetitive interests and behavior symptoms separately, first, because it is considered by many as the ‘‘gold-standard’’ measure for the diagnosis of ASD and thus is already included in most diagnostic batteries. (p 2011, 2016). Mehling & Tassé's review identified ADOS-2 as one of the primary measures used in severity rating research.
The Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) (Vineland-2) a standardized assessment where the examiner uses a semi-structured interview. The tool measures adaptive behavior and identifies intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, and developmental delays. According to Mehling & Tassé, "A major strength of the Vineland II is that, as a measure of adaptive behavior, it directly measures functional impairment in an individual’s ability to perform daily activities." With this information, identifying the level of disability/impairment can support the team in determining how much support the individual needs to provide directly informing level of needed supports in the area of RRB and social communication. In addition, Mehling's review states additional strengths, "The Vineland II identifies patterns of behavior in typical individuals and individuals with more mild levels of impairment which means that it will likely be sensitive to more subtle social impairment which is of critical importance for the assessment of severity."(2016).
The Social Responsiveness Scale, 2nd Edition or SRS-2 identifies social impairment and its severity. This is an assessments tool that support those students who may be higher functioning in the general education setting. According to Mehling & Tassé, "This assessment may even be able to detect very subtle symptoms but specific enough to differentiate clinical groups, and can be used to monitor symptoms throughout the lifespan. The SRS-2 rating scale measures social, communication, and repetitive/ stereotypic behaviors associated with ASD and generate behavioral treatment goals, targeting areas for intervention, and monitoring intervention effectiveness across time." (2016)