The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule–Second Edition (ADOS-2) was administered
to eight children who are deaf and who are native American Sign Language (ASL) users
with previous autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Classification on two different
module selection criteria was compared based on: (1) standardized administration rules
(signs not counted as equivalent to words) and (2) commonly utilized clinical administration
(sign language complexity treated equivalently to spoken language complexity). Differential
module selection resulted in discrepant classification in five of the eight cases
(63%) and suggests that ADOS-2 via standardized test administration may result in
a failure to identify autism among children who are deaf with primary communication
in ASL. Two of the eight children (25%) did not exceed the cutoff for an ASD classification
on either module administered despite previous ASD diagnosis. Overall results suggest
that caution should be used when utilizing the ADOS-2 with children who are deaf who
primarily communicate using ASL.
Keywords
Autism - deaf - ADOS-2 - assessment
