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. 2017 Nov 7;8:1916. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01916

Table 1.

Structure of an ADOS-2 Protocol Booklet.

Administration section
Order and structure of the administration
Observation and administration guidelines
Coding section
Items listed by five subsections: Language and Communication; Reciprocal Social Interaction; Play, Stereotyped Behaviors and Restricted Interests; Other Abnormal Behaviors.
Examiner chooses one rating of the following: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 accordingly to Coding Conventions described in the manual and specific descriptions in a particular item.
Algorithm form
Each Module contains one or two diagnostic algorithms:
Toddler Module Algorithms • All younger/older with few to no words – for children with chronological age between 12 and 20 months OR children aged 21–30 months who used fewer than five words during an ADOS-2 assessment.
• Older with some words – for children with chronological age between 21 and 30 months who used at least five different words during an ADOS-2 assessment.
Module 1 Algorithms Fewer than five words – for children who used fewer than five words during an ADOS-2 assessment.
Five or more words – for children who used at least five different words during an ADOS-2 assessment.
Module 2 Algorithms Younger than 5 years – for children with chronological age below 5 years 0 months.
5 years or older – for children with chronological age at least 5 years 0 months.
Module 3 Algorithm For all participants assessed with Module 3.
Module 4 Algorithm For all participants assessed with Module 4.
Examiner converts item codes to algorithm scores:
    • ratings of 3 to algorithm scores of 2
    • ratings of 7, 8, 9 to algorithm scores of 0
Examiner does not convert ratings of 0, 1, and 2.
Examiner transfers ratings of 0, 1 and 2 directly to the algorithm scores into two domains: Social Affect (SA) and Restricted and Repetitive Behavior (RRB). Sum of scores within SA domain = SA Total
Sum of scores within RRB domain = RRB Total		 SA Total + RRB Total = Overall Total Examiner coverts the Overall Total to the ADOS-2 Classification (two cutoffs: for autism and lower for autism spectrum) and the ADOS-2 Comparison Score (10-point severity metric).