After weeks of looking in the mailbox in anticipation, I finally received Roger’s ADOS Report today. I grabbed it before putting Roger in the car for his M/W Autism Playgroup at the Parent Infant Program.
Once settled into PIP, I opened what appeared to be quite a lengthy report by the feel of the envelope. I quickly realized more than half of the items were his previous reports and questionnaires we had filled out prior to the ADOS. Then, I scanned the report — namely for the infamous score. Roger’s score in the communication section was 4 (autism cutoff = 4; autism spectrum cutoff = 2). His score for the reciprocal social interaction was 13 (autism cutoff = 7; autism spectrum cutoff = 4). His total score of 17 falls in the classic autism range (autism cutoff = 12; autism spectrum cutoff = 7). I guess I could change the subtitle of this blog from “Our journey into the autism spectrum” to plain old “Our journey into autism”. It was a good thing to open at the playgroup because there were other parents there going through the same thing. We joked about how well Roger did on his test! And a friend told us about her experience at her son’s ADOS and how he displayed classic autistic behaviors that she had never seen him do in any other setting. We joked about how amazingly well he did and how good his “grade” will be.
Joking aside, it still saddens me to get these reports. I knew what it was going to say (not specifically, but in the ballpark) and it still affects me so! Why is that? I tried reading the report more thoroughly, but ended up scanning it for awful remarks, but did not see any. His first evaluation at PIP remains the most cynical….well, besides his OT evaluation.
Later this evening, I shall try to read the report again front to back, not missing any words. Perhaps a glass of wine will accompany me…or a seven-layer fudge cake?
Spinning Wheels 