ADOS TRAINING AT NJLEND

12/07/2017


New Jersey LEND Fellows, faculty discipline coordinators, administration and staff, as well as pediatric clinicians from Children's Specialized Hospital, a NJLEND clinical partner, participated in a two-day ADOS-2 Clinical Workshop. The workshop was led by Dr. Whitney Guthrie, ADOS-2 Independent Trainer. Dr. Guthrie is an author of the ADOS-2 Toddler Module and works at the Center for Autism Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The training took place at The Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities, NJ's UCEDD and LEND, and part of the Department of Pediatrics at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Didactic content provided participants with a better understanding about what the ADOS-2 is, how it was developed, how it changes to address chronological and developmental advancement, its use as a clinical instrument, and insights into its design, including how it aligns with DSM 5. General administration guidelines and coding were discussed as well.

The highlight of the workshop were the two live administrations of the ADOS-2 by Dr. Guthrie. Workshop participants observed two young men with ASD participate in the ADOS-2 assessment, and coded along with Dr. Guthrie in real-time. After the demonstration ended, attendees got a chance to practice independent ADOS-2 scoring and were able to talk through their scores with each other and with Dr. Guthrie to arrive at consensus scores.

The learning experience was useful to professionals who want to begin administering the ADOS-2, better understand ADOS-2 results, or develop a richer appreciation for the ways that characteristics of autism might be elicited. Participants took away a much deeper understanding of the definition and presentation of autism. As one participant stated, "I gained a better understanding about the symptoms and signs for autism." Several others felt that discussing the coding and observing the live administration provided helpful suggestions for using and interpreting the ADOS 2 tool.

To learn more about NJLEND http://rwjms.rutgers.edu/boggscenter/student/LEND.html