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Dr. Volkmar shares which tests are used to diagnose a person with autism.
Dr. Volkmar:
There are a number of good tests that have been developed as diagnostic instruments. They don’t replace the need for good clinical judgment, and people who are experienced do a very good job of diagnosing autism, even in the absence of those tests, but the tests are meant to help people who are less experienced, and there are some very good ones. Some of these are interviews you do with parents. There’s one called the Autism Diagnostic Interview, which is excellent.
There’s another one that you actually do with the child: Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. Both those particular tests actually have the great advantage of matching up with the guidelines that are currently official guidelines in this country for diagnosis of autism and something called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition.
About Dr. Volkmar, M.D.:
Fred Volkmar, M.D. is the director of the Yale University Child Study Center and Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Psychology at Yale University, where he heads the university's autism research and autism clinic. He is also Chief of Child Psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Hospital. His research focuses on understanding the fundamental nature of autism and developing better guidelines to diagnose autism and related conditions.
Visit Dr. Volkmar at Yale University School of Medicine