Note that these diagnoses were only made after the preschool observation and ADOS assessments selleck chemical had been completed.2.3. ADOS Assessment at the CNCTwo special education teachers (examiner 1 (GWA) and examiner 2 (UJ)) performed the ADOS-G assessments at the clinic. To avoid bias, examiner 1 performed the preschool observation of child 1 who was then (blindly) assessed by examiner 2 using the ADOS in the clinic together with another observer. Examiner 2 then performed the preschool observation of child 2 who was (blindly) ADOS assessed by examiner 1 in the clinic together with another observer. All ADOS clinical assessments were videotaped in order to perform reliability measures and were scored by the examiner and the observer together.2.4.

Preschool Observation according to a New Structured ProtocolIn order to allow reasonable comparisons to be made, the ��symptom areas�� covered by the ADOS algorithm items were used as a ��template�� for the construction of the preschool observation checklist that would be used by a special education teacher with long-term experience of autism, and trained in the use of ADOS (see Appendix at the Supplementary Material available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/384745). These areas included in the ADOS algorithm were used both in the clinic and in the preschool. The examiner was aware that the observed child was under assessment for suspected ASD, but other than age and gender, the examiner was ��blind�� and had no further information about the child at the time of observation.

The preschool teachers were instructed to be around the children as they normally would in everyday indoor situations. The ��ADOS-similar�� observations were made mainly in group activities and free play. If the child did not spontaneously perform activities, allowing observation of a particular area, the examiner herself interacted with the child, presented the task to her/him, or asked the teacher to do so. The classrooms were designed for typically developing children, and the number of children in the groups ranged from 15 to 30 children. No ADOS-specific materials were used; instead all material used in this observation belonged to the preschool. In other words, only the symptom areas checked during the preschool observation were the same as those scored using the ADOS. The observation took about an hour to perform and was scored in accordance with the ADOS algorithm. All completed preschool observation research protocols were sealed and stored away, so Dacomitinib that other research clinicians could not take part of the results until the final conjoint diagnostic assessment was made. 2.5.