Abstract
The autism phenotype includes social communication, inflexible language and behavior, and repetitive sensory and motor behavior. Our discussion will address these essential areas: assessment of communication, social interaction, play/imaginative use of materials, and restricted or repetitive behaviors. In discussing ASD assessment, it is important to carefully review the “Gold Standard” for observational assessment of autism spectrum disorders (Kanne, Randolph, & Farmer, 2008; Ozonoff, Goodlin-Jones, & Solomon, 2005) the ADOS, now in its second version (ADOS-2), and the ADI-R or diagnostic caregiver interview. Evaluation will be discussed across the domains of social communication and restricted repetitive behaviors, as well as sensory processing. This chapter provides examples of the assessments that might be used in all of these social and sensory areas. Assessment of core autism symptoms, explanation of the ADOS-2 items and algorithm, description of the ADI-R clinical interview, review of screening instruments, and review of sensory measures are included in this chapter. This chapter discusses sensory processing in the context of autism and other diagnoses instead of as a stand-alone diagnosis. These areas of assessment complete the core assessment of ASD while the following chapters include associated areas for comprehensive assessment.
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Kroncke, A.P., Willard, M., Huckabee, H. (2016). Social and Sensory Assessment. In: Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Contemporary Issues in Psychological Assessment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25504-0_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25504-0_9
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