ADI-R en ADOS

The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) is an effective tool for diagnosing ASDs in young children and children with intellectual disabilities. Our research into use of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) indicates, for instance, that this instrument is helpful in diagnosing ASDs in Dutch children aged 2 to 16 years, with or without intellectual disabilities. 

Two gold standard instruments are used when diagnosing autism spectrum disorders (ASDs): the ADI-R and the ADOS. These instruments, originally from the United States, are used extensively worldwide, including in the Netherlands. They have been thoroughly investigated in the United States. Thanks to our research, we know that the instruments are also suitable for the Dutch population. Accare therefore offers practitioners training in the use of the instruments. The researchers are also the authors of the Dutch versions of the ADI-R and ADOS. A revised version of the ADOS was issued in 2013: the ADOS-2, which has a manual with a chapter containing specifically Dutch research. 

The central question in this research study was: how valid and reliable are the ADI-R and the ADOS in diagnosing ASDs among children of different ages and with different levels of function? We researched this in large Dutch groups. Incidentally, nowhere else in the world have such major and complementary studies been published about the value of the ADI-R and ADOS in practice. Our aim with this research study and its various sub-studies was to establish whether the reliability and validity identified in the US studies also applied in the Dutch situation and whether modifications to the instruments were also applicable to the situation in our country.

We conducted this study in collaboration with Karakter and the University Medical Centre Utrecht. On occasions, we extended our collaboration more widely and studied data related to children from across Europe.