Training Curriculum for Teaching the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) to Clinical Psychology Graduate Students

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a common condition that is being diagnosed with increasing frequency and which can be markedly debilitating. Consequently, it is becoming increasingly important that health care workers are proficient in diagnosing infants and children with ASD (Manning-Courtney et al., 2013). However as the rates of ASD diagnoses have increased, so has the controversy around ASD and ASD diagnosis, specifically, whether ASD is actually increasing at a very high rate, or whether the diagnostic process has changed so that clinicians are now diagnosing more cases of ASD without an increase in the actual prevalence (Matson & Kozlowski, 2011). Individuals with ASD experience impairment in social areas, specifically social communication, social interactions, social reciprocity, and restricted and repetitive behaviors or interests (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This phenotype appears early in life and leads to impairment in daily functioning; the level of impairment depends on the severity of symptoms (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In addition, some individuals with ASD may have accompanying intellectual impairment and language impairment (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Individuals with ASD often present with a very complex neurodevelopmental profile that necessitates skilled diagnosticians to accurately diagnose ASD, and to differentiate between ASD and other diagnoses that may appear similar to ASD. It is important for clinicians to be familiar with ASD assessment even if this is not an area of focus for the clinician; as it is such a common disorder, it is very likely any psychologist working in the field will encounter ASD. These psychologists would benefit from increased exposure to ASD assessments. This dissertation created a curriculum, to be offered through clinical psychology graduate programs, with the goal of increasing diagnostician comfort and accuracy diagnosing ASD using the ADOS-2. A curriculum manual was developed that laid out week by week training for graduate students in clinical psychology. The training curriculum should be used for training on the ADOS-2 as part of a 15-week, three-credit course over the course of a semester. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]