Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Deaf Adults with Intellectual Disability: Feasibility and Psychometric Properties of an Adapted Version of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2).
D Holzinger, C Weber, S Bölte and 2 others
PMID 34322824WHAT IT FOUND
An adapted autism assessment worked for 56 deaf adults with intellectual disability.
It was completed in 98% of cases, averaging 28 minutes. Two experts agreed on most scores, though results for repetitive behaviors were less reliable than for social interaction.
Key findings
01The assessment was completed in full by 98% of participants.
02The average administration time was 28 minutes.
03Inter-rater agreement was high for social affect scores but lower for restricted and repetitive behaviors.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was small, particularly for Module 1 (n=8), limiting the reliability of results for this group. The final diagnosis was a consensus opinion that included the ADOS-2 results, so the test's ability to predict the diagnosis cannot be independently verified. The study was conducted in specialized therapeutic communities with high levels of sign language support, which may not reflect other settings. Internal consistency for the restricted and repetitive behaviors domain was poor in some modules, suggesting these items are less reliable.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Johannes Kepler University Linz. No other conflicts of interest are declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not view the high sensitivity and specificity as proof of diagnostic accuracy. The authors explicitly state these results are preliminary because the 'gold standard' diagnosis was influenced by the test itself, and the sample was small.