AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER EVALUATION IN TODDLERS AND PRESCHOOLERS

Abstract

In this course, audiences will learn about the following: early childhood normal development, focusing on social development; the multidisciplinary team evaluation model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessment in toddlers and preschoolers; the basic structure of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2) along with a basic sense of how ADOS-2 is administered; and how ASD symptoms are manifesting in the toddler and preschool periods and how ASD is differentiated from other mental health disorders in the toddler and preschool periods. The course will consist of handout, lecture, and live demonstration of ADOS-2 and role-playing, video clips about ASD symptomatology, and case discussion. In this course, we will provide audiences with in-depth educational experiences on ASD evaluation in toddlers and preschoolers. We will provide didactics, video clips, live demonstration, and role-playing, and educational handouts. We will review normal development (speech language, motor, cognition, play, social-emotional) because understanding normal development is a prerequirement to understand ASD symptoms in very young children. We will review how the ADOS-2 is structured, and audiences will have the chance to experience how some ADOS-2 activities are administered and coded. We will also review how to interpret ADOS-2 coding and scoring to assist diagnostic clarification. In the mental health evaluation, we will review how to conduct a mental health interview and mental status examination in order to evaluate ASD symptoms and differentiate ASD vs other mental/developmental disorders. As a last agenda item, we will review cases with ASD and cases with other mental/developmental disorders that may resemble ASD. In the case review, we will discuss the history, ADOS-2, other testing, and mental status examination. By the end of the course, audiences are expected to have obtained a good sense of a multidisciplinary team approach for ASD evaluation in toddlers and preschoolers, and to gain basic clinical skills to evaluate ASD symptoms and develop differential diagnoses.