Child Autism assessment at CADS Autism
At CADS Autism, we provide comprehensive, child-centred autism assessments designed to identify each child’s unique strengths, differences, and support needs. Our assessments follow gold-standard diagnostic tools such as the ADOS-2 and ADI-R, alongside input from parents, schools, and other professionals who know the child best. We aim to offer a clear, compassionate understanding of your child’s profile, helping families and educators to access the right support, strategies, and interventions to enable every child to thrive.
CADS Autism: Why choose our services
Gold Standard Clinical Services
Choosing CADS Autism means choosing a compassionate, professional, and efficient pathway to understanding your child’s needs. Our assessments are thorough yet timely, helping families access answers and support without long waiting times. We use gold-standard diagnostic tools recognised by the NHS and education services, ensuring your child’s assessment meets national standards for quality and reliability. Our multidisciplinary team works collaboratively with families and schools to provide clear outcomes and practical recommendations. At CADS, we believe every child deserves to be understood, supported, and celebrated for who they are.
Child and Young Person assessment
An autism assessment for children and young people at CADS Autism involves a comprehensive evaluation by our multidisciplinary team, including a clinical psychologist, speech and language therapist, and psychotherapist. Using gold-standard tools such as the ADOS-2 and ADI-R, alongside parent interviews, teacher feedback, and developmental history, we aim to build a clear picture of your child’s strengths and needs. Assessments are available from age 3, or earlier if indicated. Early assessment and support can make a meaningful difference, so if you have concerns about your child’s development, we encourage you to seek professional advice.
ADOS-2
The gold standard for diagnosis of Autism
– Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
The ADOS-2 is a semi-structured, standardised assessment of communication, social interaction, play, and restricted and repetitive behaviours. It presents various activities that elicit behaviours directly related to a diagnosis of Autism. By observing and coding these behaviours, the test user can obtain information that informs diagnosis, treatment planning, and educational placement.
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The ADOS-2 includes five modules, each requiring around 60 minutes to administer. The individual being evaluated is given only one module, selected on the basis of his or her expressive language level and chronological age. Following guidance provided in the manual, the test user chooses the module appropriate for the individual under evaluation.
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Toddler Module – for children between 12 and 30 months of age who do not consistently use phrase speech.
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Module 1 – for children 31 months and older who do not consistently use phrase speech.
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Module 2 – for children of any age who use phrase speech but are not verbally fluent.
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Module 3 – for verbally fluent children and young adolescents.
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Module 4 – for verbally fluent older adolescents and adults.
Each module engages the individual in a series of activities involving interactive stimulus materials. As an example, activities in Module 3 are listed below:
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Construction Task
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Make-Believe Play
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Joint Interactive Play
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Demonstration Task
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Description of a Picture
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Telling a Story From a Book
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Cartoons
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Conversation and Reporting
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Emotions
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Social Difficulties and Annoyance
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Break
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Friends, Relationships, and Marriage
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Loneliness
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Creating a Story
ADIR
The ADI-R has proven effectiveness in differentiating autism from other developmental disorders, assessing syndrome boundaries, identifying new sub-groups and quantifying autistic symptomatology.
Composed of 93 items, the ADI-R focuses on three functional domains:
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Language and Communication
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Reciprocal Social Interactions
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Restricted, Repetitive and Stereotyped Behaviours and Interests
Interview questions cover eight content areas:
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The subject's background including family, education, previous diagnoses and medications
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Overview of the subject's behaviour
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Early development and development milestones
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Language acquisition and loss of language or other skills
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Current functioning in regard to language and communication
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Social development and play
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Interests and behaviours
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Clinically relevant behaviours such as aggression, self injury and possible epileptic features.
To administer ADI-R, an experienced clinical interviewer questions a parent or caregiver who is familiar with the developmental history and current behaviour of the individual being evaluated.
Administration of the ADI-R requires use of the ADI-R Interview Protocol booklet which contains the 93 items. Following a standardised procedure, the interviewer records and codes the informant's responses in the Interview Protocol booklet.
Results are scored and interpreted using a Diagnostic Algorithm or a Current Behaviour Algorithm or both depending on the purpose of the evaluation.
School Questionnaire
Our school questionnaire is emailed to SENCO or member of staff that knows the child best, and covers information relating to how the child/young person manages in preschool/the classroom/college, relationships and social interaction and communication with peers and adults, restrictive and repetitive behaviours, sensory and emotional regulation and academic attainment.
